Moneycontrol Bureau
World's largest forging company Bharat Forge shares climbed 4 percent intraday Tuesday after sharp increase in North America heavy-duty truck orders for the first time in nearly two years.
Orders for heavy-duty trucks in November grew by 18 percent to 19,300 units, the highest since December 2015, compared with year-ago period, which could be an indication that freight market in North America may be bottoming out.
On month-on-month basis, the growth in heavy-duty trucks orders was 41 percent.
The increase in November orders was the first time after the decline for 20 consecutive months.Class 8 truck orders contributed 32 percent of company's FY18 revenue.
In the quarter ended September 2016, BN Kalyani, CMD of the company said Bharat Forge had further strengthened its market share in the North American commercial vehicle market with addition of a customer.
Americas' business during the quarter fell 43 percent year-on-year to Rs 2241.2 crore but increased 12.2 percent compared to previous quarter.
"The sluggish economic environment particularly in the manufacturing segment has led to a softer than normal freight market resulting in low utilisation rates amongst the existing fleet. Added to this is the traditional uncertainty caused in election years," the company had reasoned for weak revenue growth in America's business.
At 10:32 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 900.50, up Rs 27.40, or 3.14 percent on the BSE.Posted by Sunil Shankar Matkar
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