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Commercial vehicle firm Ashok Leyland Ltd has posted a drop of 37 per cent in net profit at Rs 230 crore for the quarter ended March 2015, as against a net profit of Rs 363.4 crore for the same period of the previous financial year.
The total income from operations experienced a growth of 46.4 per cent during the quarter, at Rs 4,505.70 crore, compared to the total income of Rs 3,076.78 crore posted during the corresponding quarter of last year. On a consolidated basis, the net loss for 2014-15 stood at Rs 213.97 crore as against a net loss of Rs 231.71 crore posted during the previous year. The total income from operations for the whole year grew by 33.5 per cent at Rs 15,340.88 crore, as compared to Rs 11,486.72 crore posted during the previous year.
On a standalone basis, the full year net profit saw a growth of Rs 334.8 crore, while it was Rs 29.38 crore during the previous fiscal year. The total income, for the whole year stood at Rs 13,562.18 crore as against Rs 9943.42 crore for the twelve months of previous fiscal year, with a growth of 36.4 per cent.
During the year the company generated surplus cash of around Rs 2000 crore, aided by positive accruals, Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), sale of non core assets and reduction in working capital, all of which resulted reduction in debt, said the company.
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"It's been a very gratifying year. All our efforts towards transformation of the company in terms of pruning costs, rationalising overheards, reducing working capital and at the same time investing smartly in new products and network are paying off," said Vinod K Dasari, managing director of Ashok Leyland Limited.
"The industry has turned the corner and so have we. I am confident that coming years will see us build on this momentum," he said.
The company claimed that its market share in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment has improved with domestic sales of Rs 66,442 vehicles. Exports of M&HCV increased 32 per cent. Along with the enhanced product range, continued network expansion across the country, a renewed focus on customer and network profitablity, new service products like Annual Maintenance Contract, insurance and extended warranty combined with the IT enabled sales process helped the company to reach more customers and understand their requirements better and faster, it said.
