Ashok Leyland Q4 profit rises 40%

Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland on Friday beat analysts’ estimates by posting a 40% year-on-year growth in its standalone net profit at Rs 667.4 crore in the January-March quarter. Net sales were, however, below Bloomberg estimates and grew 32% to Rs 8,772.5 crore. The company’s ebitda registered a growth of 42% to Rs 1,033 crore, also below estimates.

During the quarter, the company’s sales rose 23% y-o-y to 58,734 units, according to data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. This was primarily due to increased retail demand, which was in turn because of steps taken by most state governments on strictly following the restrictions on overloading. New product launches and new technology also contributed to a rise in demand.

“FY18 has been an extremely satisfactory year for us with achievements on many fronts. Record domestic truck volumes, substantial growth in light commercial vehicle, continued growth in market share, success of our digital market place, and most importantly, the transformation which i-EGR brought to the Indian market.

Exports have witnessed a healthy jump in the current year and we will continue to focus on growing international business as well as defence and after market portfolios. Our network continues to grow and reach out to more of our customers,” Vinod Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland, said in a statement.

The company’s board approved the scheme of amalgamation of Ashok Leyland Vehicles, Ashley Powertrain and Ashok Leyland Technologies (earlier part of JV with Nissan) with Ashok Leyland. Dasari said with input costs expected to go up by a minimum of 4 percentage points in the current fiscal, the company will go for a possible price hike of 1% to 2% every quarter. The company has already made its first hike in the current fiscal during April.

Gopal Mahadevan, chief financial officer, said, “We are cash positive with nearly Rs 3,000-crore surplus. Our focus on working capital and operational efficiency will continue. Our credit rating has been upgraded to ‘AA+’ after a span of 20 years.”

Ashok Leyland Limited