Hero MotoCorp rises on margin improvement

Q1 operating margins improved by 100 bps at 14.8% on sequential basis due to decline in other expenditure.

Hero MotoCorp has rallied 4.4% to Rs 1,832 after reporting 100 bps improvement in operating margins at 14.8% for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013 on sequential basis due to 10% quarter-on-quarter decline in other expenditure. The company had operating margins at 13.8% in March quarter.

Meanwhile, the country's largest two-wheeler maker has reported 10.86% year-on-year (yoy) decline in its net profit at Rs 549 crore for Q1 FY2014. The company's total income for the quarter also decline by 1.4% at Rs 6,159 crore on yoy basis.

Commenting on the results, Hero MotoCorp Managing Director and CEO Pawan Munjal said: "the company had good sales in April and May but "heavy and early rains in June have slowed down the momentum a bit, but we are optimistic about growth in the second half of the fiscal."

The stock opened at Rs 1,765 and touched high of Rs 1,841 on NSE. A combined around one million shares have changed hands on the counter in early morning deals on NSE and BSE.