Bajaj Auto, India's second-largest maker of two-wheel vehicles, has reported a 50-per cent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs69.14 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2009, as against Rs137.71 crore in the previous quarter.

The board has declared a dividend of Rs22 per share of the face value of Rs10 for the year ended March 2009, against Rs20 per share in the previous year. The consolidated total income was lower by 8.6 per cent at Rs1,883.27 crore, against Rs2,060.61 crore in the previous financial year.

Two wheeler sales volumes were down 22 per cent at 375,439 units against 482,912 units, and three wheeler volumes were down 7 per cent at 64,830 units against the previous 69,676 units.

For the fiscal ended 31 March, the company reported a 28.5 per cent lower consolidated net profit of Rs535.79 crore against the previous year'sRs749.58 crore. The profit was significantly lower by about Rs500 crore before tax owing to foreign exchange cover taken by the company and outgo on its voluntary retirement scheme.

Total income dipped 2.5 per cent to Rs8,814.81 crore. Two-wheeler volumes dipped 11 per cent to 1.92 million units and three-wheeler volumes were down 5 per cent at 274,529 units.

On a standalone basis, Bajaj Auto reported a 7.8 per cent growth in net profit at Rs130.21 crore for the fourth quarter on a lower sales of Rs1,883.40 crore.

Two-wheeler exports for the year were up 31 per cent at 633,463 units and three wheeler exports, at 139,056 units, were up 2 per cent. Total exports rose 25 per cent to 772,519 units and export revenues increased by 29 per cent to Rs2,640 crore.

Addressing the media, managing director Rajiv Bajaj said he expected a double digit growth in the current year. ''There will be greater growth from the domestic market although not the 30 per cent levels we have seen for the last few years.''

He said Bajaj Auto's assembly-line in China has just started making the Boxer bike. It shipped around 1,000 units last week to India and these are destined for Nigeria. ''Since it is a new product and a new supply base, we will first stabilise the quality. This fiscal, we hope to ramp up to 10,000 units and then expand. The Nigerian market is dominated by cheap Chinese bikes and has shrunk by half to around five lakh units.''

On the small car being developed with Renault-Nissan, Bajaj said, ''The objective is to have a car that no car major can develop. It must either have a brand fit that is not possible to achieve for global car makers or have a feasibility that would not be viable for them. We are still a couple of years away from its launch.''

The Bajaj group is also banking on an innovative deal it had struck with its joint venture partner, Germany-based Allianz, to finance additional investment. An agreement between the two stipulates that Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance will receive all the money it needs from Allianz till regulations allow 74 per cent foreign direct investment in insurance companies.

The agreement also commits Allianz to funding the Indian business till 2016 even if Indian laws governing FDI in insurance do not change, according to reports.