TVS Motor shares dip over 3% as March quarter profit plunges 43%

The company said it had successfully transitioned to BS-VI

Shares of TVS Motor Company dipped 3.7 per cent to Rs 322.7 on the BSE on Friday after the company reported a 43.3 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 81.85 crore for the quarter ended on March 2020 (Q4FY20).

The two-wheeler major's total income also declined 16.9 per cent from the year-ago quarter to Rs 4,128.67 crore. It reported profit before tax of Rs 114.83 crore as compared to Rs 217.19 crore during Q4FY19.

The company reported total sales of 32.63 lakh units in 2019-20 as against 39.14 lakh units in 2018-19. During the fourth quarter, the company’s overall two-wheeler and three-wheeler sales, including exports, stood at 6.33 lakh units as compared with 9.07 lakh units registered in the quarter ended March 2019.

For 2019-20 fiscal, TVS Motor reported a net profit of Rs 646.80 crore as against Rs 725.40 crore in 2018-19. Total income during this fiscal stood at Rs 18,901.14 crore.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that it had successfully transitioned to BS-VI and almost 85 per cent of the vehicles it despatched during the quarter were BS VI products. The operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter ended March 2020, prior to a one time additional dealer discount of Rs 22 crore and an exceptional item of Rs 32 crore towards Covid-19 came in at 7.6 per cent against 7 per cent reported in corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company is cautiously optimistic about the second half of the current fiscal year, with the rural market slowly opening up and expected to see a higher penetration of financing.

"Since March 23, 2020, the company's manufacturing facilities have been closed in line with lockdown guidelines issued by the government. This caused an interruption in production and sales during this period. Post easing of the lockdown, the company has commenced its operations, with exhaustive safety measures to safeguard the health of the employees across all its factories in Hosur, Mysuru and Nalagarh. Many dealers of the company across the country and overseas have also resumed operations," the company said.

At 9:42 AM, the stock had erased all the losses and was trading 0.66 per cent higher at Rs 335.15. So far, Around 14.5 lakh shares have changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE combined.