Country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of ₹682 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, a decline of nine per cent y-o-y as compared with ₹748 crore in corresponding period last year.
However, consolidated total income of the company rose by six per cent y-o-y to ₹9,252 crore for the quarter in review as against ₹8,697 crore in July-September quarter last year.
The company sold 14.28 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters during the period. It was lesser as compared with the 14.38 lakh units sold in the same period previous year.
‘Continued financial discipline’
“Our results reflect our continued financial discipline, focus on cost savings and capital allocation on one hand, while ensuring premiumisation of our portfolio on the other. The X-tec variants which have been launched across all key models have been received by the customers very well. We will continue to build presence in premium segment through multiple launches over next few quarters,” Niranjan Gupta, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Hero MotoCorp, said.
The consumer confidence is coming back, which augurs well for growth momentum moving forward, he said.
“The Indian economy has continued to outperform the global growth supported by its relatively stronger fundamentals, and the return of its strong domestic consumption since the re‐opening of all the sectors post Covid. A healthy festive period demand across most categories and specifically in auto sector have demonstrated that the underlying propensity to spend has gone up,” Gupta added.
The global macro headwinds may keep the playfield a bit uncertain, and navigating the same over next few quarters will be important. However, as the commodities cool off, and the rate cycle reaches its peak, the medium term outlook for the Indian auto industry appears quite encouraging, he added.
Shares of Hero MotoCorp closed at ₹2,646.15 a piece on the BSE on Thursday, up 0.15 per cent from the previous close.