Escorts eyes 13-14% growth, says phenomenal Sept sales rare

Sameer Tandon, chief of sales, Escorts believes the 33-34 percent growth that the company has seen this September (YoY) may not continue going ahead. He estimates a 13-14 percent growth going ahead.

Also Read: Market sentiment still positive: Escorts Agri Machinery

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Tandon says good monsoons, and upcoming festivals have kept the growth of the company at par with the industry estimate of 33.5 percent and the sentiments are likely to remain positive.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Sameer Tandon's interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: It has been a very strong growth for you this September, up around 33 percent on a year-on-year basis. Do you see this demand continuing?

A: This is the result of very good monsoon and upcoming festival season. Around 33-34 percent increase is a very rare thing which has happened this time. I do not see it continue, but 13-14 percent growth is more likely to continue.

Q: How is your market share shaped up? Compared to industry growth where would you be right now?

A: We have grown at par with the industry. Industry has grown about 33.5 percent, we have also grown by about 33.5 percent, so we are very much there.

I would not really take one month's sales on reflection of a market share. It is usually the stock management that happens just before the season, because you up the stock and Dussehra and Diwali are in the beginning of November. So, you would like to see the market share on quarter-to-quarter performance basis and I would not really see that at month end.

Q: We had a bit of mixed opinion with regards to how rural sales might pan out and the impact of the monsoon according to some might not be as good as anticipated earlier. Did you anticipate higher sales or is it above your expectations?

A: The last quarter as well was very good and I think it continues. The sentiments remain positive. Monsoon throughout the country has been very good and I would believe so, with very good monsoon and the commodity prices, the government support prices everything has risen, so the sentiment will remain positive and it should continue. I have not seen anything that has not happened as per the plan in last 4-5 months and would see this to continue the same trend.

Q: The problem has been exports, even though it is a very small number right now. We have seen for the industry and for you as well exports coming down quite a bit. You have entered new markets like Cambodia. How do you see the exports picture shaping out in rest of FY14?

A: At this point of time we are dealing with exports at a very basic level. We are preparing to launch ourselves in Europe as that is the market we are targeting. At this point of time on a month-on-month numbers, we do not have too much of an interest in doing so. We are trying to create our base. It is too small a number right now to talk about that number in anyway.