Mumbai: Hero Honda Motors Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 1,525.60 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2002 as compared to Rs 561.20 million for the corresponding period last fiscal. The total income has increased from Rs 8,597.40 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2001 to Rs 12,856.90 million for the quarter ended 31 March 2002.

The net profit for the financial year ended 31 March 2002 is Rs 4,629.30 million as compared to Rs 2,468.70 million for the financial year ended 31 March 2001. The total income has increased from Rs 31,911.20 million in the financial year ended 31 March 2001 to Rs 45,394.90 million in the financial year ended 31 March 2002.

The board of directors at their meeting considered and recommended a final dividend of 350 per cent (Rs 7 per share of Rs 2 each) and a celebration dividend of 250 (Rs 5 per share) for the financial year 2001-02. These dividends, together with the already-declared special interim dividend of 250 per cent (Rs 5 per share), will make the total dividend of 850 per cent (Rs 17 per equity share of Rs 2 each) for the financial year 2001-02.

Akio Kazusa joined as the new joint managing director and Motohide Sudo joined as director on 1 April 2002 in place of Matsuo Yamasaki and T Fujisaki, respectively. Hero Honda Motors, the worlds No 1 two-wheeler company, has achieved a 48-per cent market-share in the motorcycle category during the year and a 33-per cent of the total two-wheeler market. The company recorded a cumulative sale of over 1.425 million motorcycles for the year 2001-02.

The companys spare parts business also showed a remarkable increase of 39 per cent, taking the annual sales to Rs 2,030 million. Encouraged by the response, the company has set a target of Rs 2,500 million for the current financial year.

Hero Hondas growth over the last five years has been truly outstanding, with both revenue and profit after tax showing significant jumps of over five times. Total sales too increased from 2,68,931 motorcycles in 1996-97 to 14,25,302 motorcycles in 2001-02, with the volume market-share jumping from 27 to 48 per cent in motorcycles, and 9 to 33 per cent in two-wheelers.

Hero Honda Motors chairman and managing director Brijmohan Lall, commending on the companys achievement, said: I think all our stakeholders - our Hero Honda family of employees, ancillaries, vendors, dealers, other business associates and, most importantly, our customers - have been instrumental in our achieving the world No 1 status. I would also like to make a special mention of the excellent support provided all through by our joint venture partners, Hondo Motor Company and Hero Cycles Ltd. Our relationship with them has been wonderful and mutually satisfying. As we move forward, our collaborative approach will help us continue our lead.

On the occasion, Hero Honda Motors director and CEO Pawan Munjal said: The key reason for our success has been our continuous pursuit of proactively delivering value and delight to our customers. This is evident from the pioneering initiatives we undertook during 2001 - like the full two-year warranty on all Hero Honda models, and the launch of the most comprehensive customer relationship programme called the Hero Honda Passport Programme. Further, despite strong competition and pressures on the economy as a whole, the company has improved operating profits significantly, mainly because of cost rationalisation, strong working capital management and manufacturing efficiencies.