Apollo Tyres hits 26-month low on weak March quarter results

The company reported a fall of 66 per cent in consolidated net profit YoY at Rs 84 crore for March quarter

Shares of Apollo Tyres hit a 26-month low of Rs 185 apiece, down 5 per cent intra-day on the BSE on Thursday, after the company reported a sharp decline of 66 per cent year on year (y-o-y) in consolidated net profit at Rs 84 crore for the quarter ended March 2019 (Q4FY19).

While the profit was dented due to higher expenditure and one-time loss of Rs 100 crore, the revenue from operations during the quarter grew 6 per cent at Rs 4,274 crore against Rs 4,034 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

The numbers, however, missed analysts' estimates who had expected a revenue of Rs 4,406 crore and a profit of Rs 207 crore for the quarter.

The company’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin during the quarter contracted by 300 basis points (bps) to 9.94 per cent in Q4FY19 from 12.82 per cent in Q4FY18.

"The company holds unsecured, short term intercorporate deposit of Rs 200 crore with IL&FS Financial Services Ltd which was due for maturity on October 22, 2018. IL&FS, however, has defaulted on its repayment," the company said in its statement.
 

The company addded that the interest accrued and due on the investment of Rs 8.03 crore till October 22, 2018 was not recorded.

"As a result of increased credit risk in relation to outstanding balances from IL&FS and the uncertainty prevailing due to the proceedings pending with the national company law tribunal (NCLT), the entire amount of Rs 200 crore has been written off, of which Rs 100 crore was provided for upto December 31, 2018. The same has been disclosed as an exceptional item in the results," it said.

The shares were trading at its lowest level since March 14, 2017. The trading volumes on the counter jumped more than four times with a combined 7.3 million shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till 02:04 pm.