Lumax Q1 revenue falls by 17 pc due to poor auto sales

Automobile lighting major Lumax Industries has reported 17 per cent fall in its revenue at Rs 402 crore during the first quarter of current fiscal as against Rs 482 crore in Q1 FY19.

This is due to low production of almost all products, the company said.

"The automotive industry is witnessing a slowdown which has now lasted for over three quarters. Subdued demand, impact during central elections, negative sentiment in rural market have led to lower quarterly automobile sales," said Chairman and Managing Director Deepak Jain.

Lumax said its consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled Rs 39 crore for Q1 FY20 as against Rs 41 crore in the same period of previous year.

The EBITDA margin stands at 9.8 per cent against 8.5 per cent in spite of lower offtake from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) which is due to various cost control initiatives and insourcing of electronics business from April.

The company's profit after tax and share of associate before exceptional items stood at Rs 17 crore in Q1 FY20 as against Rs 20 crore in Q1 FY19. The profit after tax margin dipped to 4.1 per cent from 4.2 per cent.

"We are now expecting pre-buying due to transition to BS-VI and festive season to bring in some respite to the industry. Being a dominant player in the lighting business, we expect to benefit from the slew of new model launches by OEMs and entry of new OEMs in the country," said Jain.

Lumax has nine manufacturing plants in the country strategically located near manufacturing locations of major OEMs. It is one of the major suppliers to Hero Motocorp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, Honda Cars, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and others.

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