Apollo Tyres stock: Higher volume, steady raw material prices are positives

The Indian tyre industry is expected to grow at 8-10 per cent for FY18

Apollo Tyres has hit fresh 52-week highs over the last week, gaining six per cent on expectations of improvement in profitability in the coming quarters, led by steady rubber prices, improving volume growth and anti-dumping duty on the truck and bus radial (TBR) segment tyres. Further, stabilisation in its Hungarian operations and gradual increase in contribution from the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) segment would likely to push its profitability further.

Given the strong volume growth, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has revised its projections for the fiscal year 2018-19 across segments. Passenger vehicle (PV) sales, earlier projected to grow