September sales booster for Mahindra

DALAL STREET SPIKES

The Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) stock got a booster on the back of strong September sales.

The company on Monday announced a 28 per cent rise in its vehicle sales in September 2004 to 18,007 units. Automobile sales rose 25 per cent to 12,769 units.

M&M's auto sales include utility vehicles, light commercial vehicles and three-wheelers but not tractors. The stock, in a volatile trading session, ended 2.47 per cent higher at Rs 451.70.

The stock, in intra-day trades, touched a high of Rs 457.40 and a low of Rs 444.15. M&M's tractor sales (including exports) surged 22 per cent to 5,444 units compared with 4,474 units in September 2003. The surge was on the back of a strong volume of more than 3.45 lakh shares on the BSE.

Analysts say the tractor industry has done well of late with the liquidation of inventories and a revival in demand resulting in smart gains for M&M which is a dominant player in the tractor business.