Bajaj Auto on Friday announced 2.68 per cent increase in standalone net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013 at Rs 737.68 crore, while its sales volume dipped in a difficult market.
The company had posted standalone net profit of Rs 718.39 crore in the same period of previous fiscal. Net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 4,808.73 crore as against Rs 4,713.64 crore, up 2.01 per cent, Bajaj Auto ltd (BAl) said in a statement. Sales in terms of volume during the first quarter this fiscal stood at 9,79,275 units as against 10,78,971 units, down 9.23 per cent.
During the quarter, BAl said, its motorcycle sales were down by 12 per cent to 8,60,151 units as against 9,82,623 units in the corresponding period last fiscal. Its motorcycle sales in India were down by 8 per cent to 5,71,655 units as compared to 6,18,489 units in year-ago period, BAl said. “Given the present economic situation, high fuel price and negative sentiments, the size of domestic market for premium segment declined by 11 per cent in Q1 FY14. Bajaj Auto being the single largest player with a market share of 46 per cent in the segment was more that proportionally affected,” it said.
Further, the labour unrest and stoppage of work in June 2013 at the manufacturing unit in Chakan has caused a loss in sales of 20,000 units of pulsar, it said. The company said its bike exports were also down 21 per cent to 2,88,496 units as against 3,64,134 units in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Sales in Egypt were hurt due to the political crisis, while ban of use of motorcycle taxis in a few provinces of Nigeria also hurt demand, it said.