Mahindra net profit rises on new SUVs, truck sales

By Promit Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, India's top-selling utility vehicle maker, expects its automotive and tractor units to grow faster than the industry this fiscal year, an executive said after the company posted a rise in quarterly profit.

The automaker reported a 6 percent rise in net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter helped by strong sales of its newly-launched sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), and rising demand for trucks as the domestic economy slowly recovers.

"We had nine product launches last fiscal, now that is starting to mature," group chief financial officer, VS Parthasarathy, told reporters on Monday.

Recently launched SUVs like the TUV300 and KUV100 helped Mahindra record a 21 percent rise in utility vehicles sales during the January-March quarter, outpacing the industry that grew about 15 percent during the period, data showed.

Mahindra's standalone net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose to 5.84 billion rupees ($87 million), from 5.51 billion a year earlier, but fell short of bullish analyst estimates of 6.45 billion rupees, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Net sales rose about 15 percent to 106.7 billion rupees.

Mahindra, among other carmakers, is facing regulatory hurdles in India. The top court has temporarily banned the sale of large diesel cars in the capital and surrounding region - a move that other states may copy.

The ban is expected to have the most impact on sales of Mahindra, Toyota Motor Corp and Daimler AG's Mercedes Benz that have large diesel cars, say analysts.

Mahindra will introduce a petrol and diesel engine for all its major models over the next three to four years, and will launch hybrid cars by 2022, executive director Pawan Goenka told reporters.

Mahindra's sales volume in Delhi and the surrounding region were almost the same as before the diesel ban, Goenka said.

Shares in Mahindra rose as much as 1.5 percent after the numbers but ended the day 0.2 percent lower in a positive Mumbai market.

($1 = 67.3200 Indian rupees)

(Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in Mumbai, Writing by Aditi Shah in New Delhi; Editing by Sunil Nair/ Ruth Pitchford)