Bajaj Auto Q1 profit tanks 53% YoY to Rs 528 cr, EBITDA margin dips to 14%

Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto on Wednesday reported a standalone net profit of Rs 528 crore for the April-June quarter of FY21 (Q1FY21), down 53 per cent, from a profit of Rs 1,125.67 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the profit tumbled 60 per cent from Rs 1,310.29 crore posted in March quarter of FY20.
 

The number was in line with Street expectations. Analysts at Nomura, for instance, had pegged the profit at Rs 522.2 crore for the recently concluded quarter.
 

On a consolidated basis, the net profit was Rs 395.5 crore, down from Rs 1,012.16 crore clocked in Q1FY20.
 

The Pune-headquarted company’s profit before tax (PBT) came in at Rs 681.67 crore compared with Rs 1,578.78 crore PBT logged in Q1FY20.
 

That apart, the revenue of the company tanked 60 per cent YoY to Rs 3,079 crore, as against Rs 7,755 crore earned in Q1FY20. This, too, was in line with analysts’ expectations.
 

“June quarter has been an extremely challenging quarter due to Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of pandemic was felt in India and in countries we export to. Localised lockdowns disrupted the supply chain, impacting the return towards normalcy,” the management said.
 

For the quarter under review, the company sold 443,103 units. In the year-ago quarter, it had sold 1,247,174 units. 

The firm added that the domestic market of commercial vehicles was severely impacted due to the pandemic. The industry recorded a decline of 91 per cent in volumes. Being a market leader, Bajaj Auto was impacted the most, it said.
 

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) plummeted to Rs 441 crore in the June quarter, while margin came in at 14.3 per cent.

"With a sharp drop in revenue from operations, EBITDA also recorded a decline. However, strict cost control measures helped us declare an EBITDA of Rs 441 crore. Fixed cost spends were controlled across all plants and locations. In addition, marketing and advertisement spends were also curtailed," it said in a statement.
 

Analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services had expected the EBITDA to come in at Rs 404.2 crore. 

As on 30th June 2020, surplus cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs14,232 crore as against Rs 14,322 crore as on 31st March, 2020. 

At 12:35 pm, the stock was trading 0.8 per cent lower at Rs 2,980 apiece on the BSE. It hit an intra-day low of Rs 2952 post the results.

Bajaj Auto's sales. (Source: Company's financial statement)