Despite challenging domestic and volatile global markets, Bajaj Auto has posted a 4.64 per cent rise in net profit at ₹901 crore for the third quarter ended December 31. The country's second largest two-wheeler manufacturer had posted a net profit of ₹861 crore for the same period a year ago.

Bajaj Auto’s revenue fell 1.6 per cent to ₹5,564.90 crore during the quarter under review compared with ₹5,657.17 crore posted during the comparable year-ago quarter.

The company’s net profit of ₹2,849 crore for nine months ended December 31, exceeds the net profit the company earned for full year of FY15, it said in a statement.

The Pune-headquartered company had earned a net profit of ₹2,814 crore for FY-15, while the nine-month year-ago period stood at ₹2,192 crore.

During the reporting quarter, the company, which also manufacturers three-wheelers, recorded an operating EBITDA margin of 22 per cent, an increase from 21.1 per cent posted during the year-ago period.

Gain market share In the ‘price’ segment, the company sold 2.15 lakh vehicles in Q3, an 86 per cent growth over the same period a year ago. With the introduction of CT100-B motorcycle model in January 2016, Bajaj Auto expects to further gain market share, it added.

In the premium segment, the company’s market share rose to over 50 per cent in Q3 from 43 per cent in the year-ago quarter, riding on the new Avengers, which sold more than 20,000 Avenger bikes in December 2015. The company’s average sales of Avengers were at 3,500 units per month.

“The decline in revenue was on account of three per cent drop in the volumes. Domestic volumes grew in double digits (10 per cent) led by new product launches (Avenger and Pulsar variants) which led to market share gains,” said Bharat Gianani (Senior Research Analyst – Automobile) at Angel Broking.

The company’s results were much in line with estimates, he added.

On Thursday, Bajaj Auto shares closed 1.62 per cent lower at ₹2,310.05 on the BSE.

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