The Hindu Business Line : TVS Motor Q1 net down at Rs 27 crore

TVS Motor Company Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs 27.18 crore on sales of Rs 611.06 crore for the first quarter of 2004-05. In the same period last year, its net profit was Rs 32.08 crore on sales of Rs 662.50 crore.

The results of the first quarter of 2003-04 do not include the results of the engine components division of Lakshmi Auto Components Ltd, which has since been amalgamated with TVS Motor. This merger added Rs 5 crore to TVS Motor's bottomline.

Other income for the quarter amounted to Rs 7.01 crore (Rs 8.55 crore). Consumption of raw materials and components was down to Rs 372.15 crore from Rs 419.10 crore for the first quarter of last year, mainly because of outsourcing and e-buying, according to company officials.

The company said the continuing drop in sales of its two-stroke motorcycle affected its motorcycles sales in the entry-level segment.

It hopes to arrest this decline with the launch of a four-stroke motorcycle, slated for October. Mr Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor, told a press conference on Wednesday that the company's motorcycle sales declined by 22 per cent, while scooterettes and mopeds sales grew by 42 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.

However, sales of the Centra and the Victor GLX were picking up. The Centra, for instance, was approaching a retail sales figure of 20,000 units a month against 12,500 in April. The company hoped to sell more than 10,000 units of the Victor GLX this month.

Exports in the first quarter of this year amounted to 12,188 units (4,617 units).

To a question, Mr Srinivasan said the company lost momentum from July 2003 to June 2004, but it had "come out of the trough" and sales were gaining momentum now.

The company hoped to sell 8,00,000 motorcycles this year against 7,06,000 last year. It hoped to export 50,000 units during the year and 1,00,000 units the next year.

TVS Motor would export motorcycles to Iran, Brazil, Colombia and Turkey also. It was looking at a licensing arrangement in Iran and was in discussions with a few parties for that.