INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
demand for its bikes and three-wheelers
A depreciating rupee acted as a tailwind to its overseas businesses.
The company has forecast yet another quarter of double-digit growth in
Q1 of FY19, something that may aid Bajaj Auto enhance its margins beyond 20%.
In the March quarter, Bajaj Auto registered a profit after tax
of Rs 1,080 crore, compared with ?802 crore in the last quarter of FY17.Net sales climbed more than 30% to Rs 7,140 crore, whereas EBIDTA
margins slipped 30 basis points to 20.9% in the wake of hardening raw material prices
The impact of rising input costs was mitigated by higher margins on three-wheeled commercial vehicles.
S Ravikumar, head business
development at Bajaj Auto, told ET that operating performance in Q4 has been good
of 4 lakh motorcycles and three-wheelers combined in a month (including exports)in the first quarter, which will give us a healthy
wholesale of 33% in the quarter.
Besides its traditional passenger three-wheeler segment, the company has also made decent inroads into the
cargo segment with its big diesel three-wheelers
The overall cargo segment market share has crossed 22%.
Thanks to strong order inflows from Maharashtra in Q3 and Q4, Bajaj Auto had very
healthy commercial vehicle sales, Ravikumar said
While sales in Maharashtra are likely to normalise in Q1 of FY19, he expects the permits to open up in other states, which will help the
With the firming of crude prices, markets such as Nigeria and Egypt have bounced back nicely
Along with higher volumes uptick in South East Asia, we are looking at a good year in overseas markets
the Pulsar 150 has witnessed strong demand and the model will give the company higher volumes in the coming quarters
Bajaj Auto is also trying to address the critical executive segment with a new offering later in FY19
Ravikumar was, however, non-committal on the launch timeline.
