Ashok Leyland Q3 net up 11% at Rs 74 cr

Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyland today reported 10.82 percent increase in net profit at Rs 74.14 crore for the quarter ended December 31.

The company had posted net profit of Rs 66.90 crore in the same period of last fiscal, Ashok Leyland said in a release. Net income during the third quarter of this fiscal, however, went down by 18.01 per cent to Rs 2,380.51 crore, from Rs 2,903.46 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari said: "Against the backdrop of a sluggish economy and weak macro-economic indicators, quarter III was bound to be an extremely challenging one for a GDP-driven industry as ours."

Despite strong headwinds, the company was able to turn a fairly creditable performance with market share gains across regions and product segments, he added. During the October-December period, the company's sales declined by 2.23 percent to 22,661 units, from 23,175 units in the same quarter in 2011-12.

Talking about the outlook, Dasari said: "Historically Q4 is the most robust of quarters but in the present scenario, the entire commercial vehicle industry hopes for some government initiated stimuli soon that will help turn the tide, improve sentiments, which would in turn give the entire economy a much-needed fillip." The company scrip closed 2.40 percent down at Rs 24.40
on the BSE.