Bajaj Auto Q1 results: Net profit rises 42% to Rs 1,665 crore; revenue up 29%

Bajaj Auto sales dip 10% in July

Bajaj Auto on July 25 announced a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,665 crore for Q1FY24, which marks a 42 percent rise from Rs 1,173 crore reported in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

The company’s first quarter profits exceeded analysts’ forecast of a 40 percent increase.

The rise in net profit comes on the back of a favourable product mix, healthy volumes and an increase in the average selling price (ASP) of its line-up.

The Pune-based automaker's revenue from operations jumped 29 percent to Rs 10,310 crore in the quarter, compared with Rs 8,005 crore in the same quarter last year.

The company claimed that the growth in revenues is underpinned by a double- digit volume growth, with the "sustained buoyancy" on the domestic front cushioning the weak, albeit improving "export performance".

"Domestic revenues registered its biggest-ever quarter, maintaining its double-digit growth trajectory yet again. Robust double-digit motorcycle growth, consistent industry-leading 3W performance and steady scale-up on Chetak EV are the main factors," Bajaj Auto said in its exchange filing.

Bajaj Auto's income rose to Rs 10,656 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal from Rs 8,324.3 crore in the corresponding period last year. Its EBITDA for the quarter under review was up 51 percent year on year (YoY) at Rs 1,954 crore, while margins of 19 percent were up 280 basis points.  Sequentially, its margins dropped by 30 basis points from 19.3 percent in Q4FY23.

Bajaj Auto claimed that the margin improvement over the previous year was driven by dynamic price versus cost management, better foreign exchange realisation and operating leverage.

The company had  earlier reported a 10 percent growth in overall volumes at 10.27 lakh units, led by a 72 percent YoY increase in the domestic 2W segment on account of a favourable base and pick-up in demand.  The company also saw an increase of over 150 percent in domestic 3W segment volumes, YoY.

The domestic surge in volumes of two- and three-wheelers were partly offset by a percent decline in exports for both the segments. In its exchange filing, the company claimed that export volumes had risen sequentially by 12 percent, despite the ongoing currency and macro headwinds in foreign markets.

"While domestic retail volumes outstripped export volumes yet again, decisive interventions, taken particularly on currency availability, enabled the uptick in shipments to Africa and Latin America," the filing added.

After the quarterly results were declared, the shares of Bajaj Auto settled at Rs 4,843.95 apiece on the BSE at the market closing hours. This marked a decline of 0.8 percent as against the previous day's close.