Hero MotoCorp Ltd.'s net profit matched analyst estimates on strong quarterly sales and volume growth.
Net profit of the country's largest two-wheeler maker rose 4.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 805.40 crore in the quarter ended December, Hero MotoCorp said in an exchange filing. That compares with Rs 820 crore that analysts' polled by Bloomberg had forecast. Revenue rose 15 percent to Rs 7,305.50 crore as compared to the same quarter last year. This too matched the Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 7,250 crore.
The operational performance was also in line with estimates. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 7.2 percent on a yearly basis to Rs 1,158 crore, while the operating margins contracted marginally 10 basis points to 15.9 percent during the same period on higher commodity costs and other expenses.
“We surpassed all the milestones that we set for ourselves,” Pawan Munjal, chief executive officer of Hero MotoCorp said.
Strategic initiatives in the scooter segment - including the on-ground activation programmes - yielded the desired result driven by sales volumes, and enabled us to grow ahead of the industry during the quarter.Pawan Munjal, CEO, Hero MotoCorp
The company witnessed strong quarterly sales of 17.09 lakh units, and a volume growth of 16 percent, it said in a press release accompanying the exchange filing.
Hero MotoCorp will pay an interim dividend of Rs 55 per share of Rs 2 each, the company said in a separate press statement.
Ahead of its earnings, shares of Hero MotoCorp closed 2.6 percent lower compared with a 1.6 percent decline in the benchmark Sensex. The stock rose 0.3 percent in the quarter ended December compared with a 10.6 percent rise in the BSE Auto Index.
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