Mahindra & Mahindra Q1 profit rises on higher SUV, truck sales

Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday reported a 12.35% rise in net profit for the fiscal first quarter, meeting expectations, helped by strong sales of its sport utility vehicles and trucks.

Mahindra's standalone net profit for the April-June quarter rose to 9.55 billion rupees ($143.07 million) from 8.50 billion rupees in the previous year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a net profit of 8.83 billion rupees, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Net sales at India's largest utility vehicle maker rose 14% to 119.42 billion rupees.

Mahindra's total vehicle sales rose 11% to 121,530 units during the three-month period.

Sales of several carmakers including Mahindra, Tata Motors and Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> have been impacted because of a temporary ban by India's top court on the sale of large diesel cars in the capital Delhi.

Mahindra said it will introduce a petrol and diesel engine for all its major models over the next three to four years, and will launch hybrid cars by 2022.

India's main auto industry body, in April, nearly halved its growth forecast for passenger vehicle sales in the current financial year to 6-8%, saying demand could weaken after the sudden regulatory changes to curb pollution.

Mahindra India