Mahindra & Mahindra beats street; Q4 net up 2% to Rs 889cr

Moneycontrol Bureau

Utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter net profit of Rs 889 crore, up near 2 percent year-on-year, helped by sales growth, which was also ahead of street expectations and exceptional gain from sale of Mahindra Holidays and Resorts shares. The company's net sales in the quarter rose 12 percent from a year ago to Rs 10,353 crore in Jan-March. Analysts on average had expected M&M to report a net profit of Rs 723 crore on revenue of Rs 9,990 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll. Its operating margin cane in at 12.1 percent in Jan-March. The company sold 34 lakh shares of Mahindra Holidays in the quarter, which resulted in an exceptional gain of Rs 91 crore. Its finance costs also declined to Rs 51 crore from Rs 71 crore a year ago. M&M shares surged post the earnings announcement and at 14:50hrs, the stock was up 3.7 percent at Rs 997 on NSE.