Bajaj Auto, the country’s third largest two-wheeler manufacturer, posted 13.45 percent drop in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 driven down by demonetization, poor exports and the Supreme Court ruling on BS 3 vehicles.
Standalone volumes dipped by nearly 10 percent to 787,627 units during the quarter as against 872,458 units. Despite the fall in volumes the company was able to maintain its EBITDA margin at 21.2 percent during the reporting quarter.
S Ravikumar, President-Business Development, Bajaj Auto said realisations per unit saw an improvement of 400 basis points at Rs 62,200.
He said the product mix for the company is getting better, so things should look better going ahead.
For FY18 we expect 20 percent operating EBITDA, he said.
Below is part of the transcript of the interviewSonia: We are just analysing the numbers as they come in. The calculated margins that we are getting now are 18.5 percent, but can you please tell us what the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin has been for this quarter adjusted for excise duty?A: EBITDA is at 21.2 percent the way we calculate it as compared to the FY16 Q4 of about 23.3 percent. So, we have been able to pull down to a 21.2 percent EBITDA in the current quarter.
Sonia: Can you tell me what were the realisation per unit this time? Considering you had Dominar as well, the expectation was that the realisations would improve from that Rs 59,500 a unit. What has it been this time?A: It is in about Rs 62,200 per unit – Rs 62.150 or so. So, there has been a 450 basis point type of improvement in the realisations. Even in the full year, realisations have gotten better by about 235 basis points as compared to last fiscal.
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