M&M Q4 net jumps 89%; to invest Rs 5,000 cr in 4 yrs

Discarding the impact of global financial meltdown, auto major Mahindra & Mahindra today posted an impressive an 89.09 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 418.07 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 and announced investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the next four years.

"We plan to invest Rs 5,000 crore in the four-year period from FY09 to FY12 and launch several new vehicles," Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) President Automotive Pawan Goenka told reporters here at the sidelines of the press meet.

It will invest Rs 2,500 crore in its Chakan plant, which will have a capacity to manufacture 2,50,000 vehicles.It plans to add more variants to its four-wheeler category in the third quarter of FY10 and medium heavy trucks by December-January.

M&M reported an 89.09 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 418.07 crore in in the last quarter of the past fiscal against Rs 221.10 crore in the same period last year.

Gross revenue and other income increased to Rs 4,171.6 crore in the period under review against Rs 3,666.3 crore during corresponding period last year.

"The Q4 quarter continued to be an extremely challenging one for both the auto and tractor business. Though there was some impovement in the consumer sentiment andcredit availability, the after-effects of the global financial meltdown continued to be felt during the quarter," M&M Vice Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra said.

The board declared a dividend of 100 per cent at the rate of Rs 10 a piece, on shares of the face value of Rs 10 each.