Mumbai: Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) on Friday reported a net profit of Rs.942.14 crore in the December quarter, marginally up 0.87% from a year ago despite lower sales and higher employee cost.

The company has posted a net profit of Rs.934.06 crore in the year-earlier period.

The Mahindra group is planning to make a big-bang entry into the defence sector, with the acquisition of 25-30 per cent stake in Pipavav Defence, India’s largest private shipyard, based in Gujarat. Banks privy to the deal said the Pipavav Defence board was slated to meet on Friday to approve the transaction.

After a preferential share offer, the Mahindras and Gandhis (current promoters of Pipavav) were likely to hold equal stake and an open offer would be made to the shareholders of Pipavav Defence, said a banker. The Gandhi family owns a 45 per cent stake in the company. “The final contours of the transaction are under discussions between the two, especially the shareholding and the management rights,” the banker added.

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra reported six per cent decline in total sales at 39,930 units in January.

It had sold 42,685 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement.

The Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFS) scrip has underperformed the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex in the past month and corrected 17 per cent.

A slowing rural economy, worsening asset quality and weak earnings growth are the key reasons for this underperformance. Most leading brokerages have trimmed their earnings estimates for FY15 and FY16 to factor in these negatives.

The half a dozen public interest suits filed in various courts across the country against the proposed launch of the four-wheeled transport vehicle called a quadricycle has been instigated, believes Pune-based Bajaj Auto.

Instigated, I think...I won’t like to say by whom, Kevin D’Sa, its president (finance) told analysts.

After a three-year wait, the country’s two largest homegrown automobile makers, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), await the Indian Army’s announcement on new sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The choice is between the Tata Safari Storme and the Mahindra Scorpio.

The army, is expected to announce an initial order of about Rs 500 crore for almost 5,000 vehicles in the next few weeks, Business Standard has learnt from industry sources. In all, the order is likely to be worth Rs 3,000 crore for 30,000 SUVs over a 10-year period.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) Financial Services has dipped 7% to Rs 287 on BSE in otherwise firm market after the company reported disappointing set of numbers for the third quarter of current financial year.

The company has posted a 14% year on year (yoy) decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 157 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2014 (Q3), due to higher loan provisions and write offs. The company had profit of Rs 182 crore in year ago quarter.

Sports utility vehicle market leader, Mahindra & Mahindra is reportedly planning to takeover National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS), the holding company that purchased assets of Saab Automobile two years ago, according to documents filed in a local Swedish court.

NEVS, which ran into financial difficulties, signed a term sheet with M&M two weeks ago to begin intense negotiations.

General Motors will raise car prices to the tune of 1 per cent from January 1 to offset its input cost pressure, the company said in a release today.

The Delhi-based company will be joining the league of Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra who raised their prices in the range of 1-2 per cent last month.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), which saw its tractor sales fall by 33%in November, expects demand revival only in March.<>I expect sales to remain flat for the next three months and pick up only in March, said Pawan Goenka, executive director and president of farm and automotive sector, M&M.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.