Hero net dips for third quarter in a row on weak sales

4.8% decline in net profit at Rs 574.23 cr for the fourth quarter ended March 31

Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, on Friday reported a decline of 4.8 per cent in net profit at Rs 574 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31. This is the company’s third consecutive fall in quarterly profits.

The firm had posted net profit of Rs 603.6 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. However, the company’s net income between January and March 2013 went up 1.8 per cent to Rs 6,146 crore, compared to Rs 6,035 crore recorded in the year-ago period.

In the quarter under review, Hero MotoCorp sold a total of 15,27,351 two-wheelers, which is a decline of 2.8 per cent over the 15,72,027 units sold in the same period last year.

Pawan Munjal, managing director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp, said: “FY13 has been a rough year for the overall Indian auto sector. Weak macroeconomic sentiment, coupled with subdued consumer confidence, adversely impacted the industrial growth and sales volumes. Considering the current environment, these are tough times for the auto sector in India and we remain cautiously optimistic about the growth prospects in the near term.”

For the full year (FY13), Hero MotoCorp posted a fall of 10.9 per cent in its net profit at Rs 2,118 crore, compared with Rs 2,378 crore in FY12.

The company's net income, however, rose marginally to Rs 23,768 crore in FY13 from Rs 23,579 crore in FY12. Total vehicle sales during FY13 fell to 60,75,583 units from 62,35,205 units in FY12.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp were trading Rs 1,597 apiece, down by 1.42 per cent on close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

STARING DOWN THE BARREL

• 4.8% decline in net profit at Rs 574.23 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31
• Rs 603.6 cr net profit posted in corresponding period of the previous financial year
• 15,27,351  Total numberof two-wheelers sold in March quarter
• 2.8%  decline from 15,72,027 units sold same period last year
• 10.9% fall in full-year net profit at Rs 2,118 crore