Bajaj Auto Q3 profit up 10.48 per cent at Rs 904.55 crore

Bajaj Auto Ltd today reported a 10.48 per cent increase in its standalone net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2013 at Rs 904.55 crore, the highest ever in any quarter, on the back of good export performance.
The company's standalone profit stood at Rs 818.74 crore during the corresponding period a year ago.
However, total income of the company declined to Rs 5,131.24 crore in the quarter under consideration from Rs 5,412.71 crore for the same period a year ago, it added.
Unit volume sales were down by 11.8 per cent during the third quarter this fiscal to 9,93,690 units as against 11,27,741 units in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the decline, the company said: "Sales during festive period, though reasonable, were not robust. Subsequently, in November and December, industry sales continued to remain sluggish".
In addition to that, the quarter witnessed a marked increase in input cost of steel, aluminum and other imported components.

"In this environment, Bajaj Auto has declared an industry high EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin of 21.1 per cent in Q3/FY 2014 as against 19.8 per cent in Q3/FY 2013 and its the highest ever quarterly profit," the company said.
Export revenue during the quarter stood at Rs 2,123 crore as against Rs 1,719 crore in the same period last fiscal, up 23.5 per cent.

Shares of Bajaj Auto were trading at Rs 1907.35 per scrip at BSE during the afternoon trade, up 0.63 per cent from their previous close.