Truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland has reported a net loss of ₹147 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as against a net profit of ₹39 crore in the year-ago quarter, due to sluggish commercial vehicle market conditions.

Revenues stood at ₹2837 crore as against ₹3929 crore in Q2 of previous fiscal, posting a decline of 28 per cent due to lower vehicle sales. However, the Company reported a positive EBITDA of 2.8 per cent for September 2020 quarter as against an EBITDA of -51.2 per cent in Q1 FY21.

Its finance costs and depreciation were higher at ₹87 crore (₹30 crore) and ₹171 crore (₹160 crore) respectively.

“While the challenges in the market due to COVID-19 continue, the company has seen a marked improvement in the Company’s performance in this quarter. The performance of our newly launched Avtr platform in the M&HCV segment and Bada Dost in the LCV segment gives us immense confidence that we are on the right track,” said Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland Ltd.

The company also generated ₹1208 crore of cash from operations after capital expenditure and investments, which has helped the company bring down net debt to ₹3076 crore from ₹4,284 crore in Q1 FY21 further strengthening the balance sheet of the company. Debt equity has reduced from 0.6 times as of June 2020 to 0.5 times as of September 2020, according to a company statement.

A positive EBITDA of 2.8 per cent was made possible owing to the revenue enhancement and operational efficiency initiatives of the company during challenging times. Segments such as LCV, aftermarket, defence and power solutions have performed really well during the quarter, said Gopal Mahadevan, Whole Time Director & CFO, Ashok Leyland.

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