Bajaj Auto PAT down 7 per cent

21 October 2004

Pune: Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) total turnover for the quarter grew by 12 per cent to Rs1,536 crore from Rs1,366 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Net sales and other operating income grew by 16 per cent at Rs1,448 crore as compared to Rs1,249 crore in the same period previous year.

However, PAT dropped by 7 per cent in Q2 at Rs180 crore as compared to Rs193.4 crore during the corresponding quarter of 2003-04. The company's other income and wind power income came down to Rs88.3 crore as against Rs117.6 crore during the same quarter of 2003-04. The non-operating income for the company has seen a drop of about 24.7 per cent to Rs78.2 crore as compared to Rs103.9 crore during the same quarter last year. As of September 30, 2004, the market value of the investment portfolio was Rs4,521 crore.

The automobile operations generated a profit of Rs187.7 crore during the second quarter, which was a 21 per cent growth over Q2 of 2003-04 at Rs155.2 crore.

BAL's motorcylce business grew by 34 per cent, above industry growth rate of 19 per cent, with the company garnering a 28 per cent market share. Motorcycle sales during the period were at 3,36,425 units as compared to 2,50,133 units during the same quarter last year. In the 100cc segment, the new Bajaj CT100 launched in May 2004 achieved a sale of 74,000 bikes in September 2004.

Plans are on the anvil to increase production to one lakh bikes per month. In the executive segment, Bajaj Discover has been launched in select states in September 2004 and with planned production ramp-up, it will be available nationally in November 2004.

However, scooters continued to drop numbers with BAL sales at 44,089 units during this year's Q2 as compared to 69,813 units same period last year. Three-wheeler sales grew 7 per cent to 64,681 units. The GC1000 has enabled the company to garner a marketshare of 31 per cent in Q2 of 2004-05 while the company enjoyed 89 per cent marketshare of the passenger segment.