Mahindra reports net loss of Rs 3,255 crore in Q4, down from Rs 969 crore profit in FY19

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Friday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 3,255.02 crore for the January-March quarter of financial year 2019-2020.

In the January-March period of 2018-19, the company had posted a net profit of Rs 969.25 crore.

M&M said in a regulatory filing that revenue from operations declined to Rs 9,004.72 crore during the fourth quarter compared with Rs 13,807.88 crore in the same period of corresponding fiscal. The figures inclde that of Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd (MVML).

The vehicle sales of the company in the Q4 was 86,351 vehicles, 47% down from 1,63,937 units sales in the same period of 2018-19.

For 2019-20 fiscal, Mahindra reported a net profit of Rs 739.71 crore against Rs 5,401.18 crore in 2018-19. Net revenue from operations for the year stood at Rs 44,865.52 crore as against Rs 52,848.21 crore in 2018-19 fiscal.

The auto major's standalone figures for the fourth quarter was a net loss of Rs 2,502 crore, against a net profit of Rs 849 crore for the same period of 2018-19.

The standalone net profit for 2019-20 fiscal stood at Rs 1,331 crore as against Rs 4,796 crore in 2018-19.

"The results were affected due to the lower industry volumes in both automotive and tractor segments, the transition to BS-VI and the abrupt lockdown due to the COVID situation," M&M said.

It is worth noting that lockdown over COVID-19 pandemic may have played almost no role in the results as the restrictions were imposed only on March 25.

On the outlook, the company said that relaxation in lockdown guidelines will help in ramping up the production, supply chain and distribution from June onwards, which will aid economic activity.

While the overall services and manufacturing sectors are likely to see a slower recovery, the agriculture/farm equipment sector will be relatively less impacted, it added.

"One can expect a quicker recovery in rural India, as is evident from tractor sales of the company in the month of May. The urban segment may take longer to come back to normalcy," M&M said.

It further said that the outlook is heavily contingent upon the intensity, duration and spread of the pandemic, a smooth normalisation and efficacy of policy measures will be the key to any recovery in the current fiscal.

the company's board has recommended a dividend of Rs 2.35 per share of face value Rs 5 each for 2019-20 fiscal.