Hero MotoCorp on November 3 reported a 9.9 percent year-on-year decline in standalone net profit at Rs 716 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. The country's largest two-wheeler maker had reported a net profit of Rs 794 crore in the year-ago period.
Revenue from operations in the quarter under review increased 7.4 percent to Rs 9,075.35 crore against Rs 8,453.40 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at Rs 1,038 crore, down 2.6 percent from Rs 1,066.4 crore in the year-ago period, while its EBIT margin fell 120 basis points to 11.4 percent from 12.6 percent.
In half-yearly terms, the company's net profit stood at Rs. 1,341 crore in the first half of the current fiscal (2022-2023), while the revenue rose 25.3 percent to Rs 17,468 crore over the corresponding H1 in the previous fiscal.
Meanwhile, the automaker had reported a 17 percent dip in its total sales at 4,54,582 units last month (October 2022) as compared to 5,47,970 units in October 2021.
In the domestic market, the company's dispatches to dealers stood at 4,42,825 units, down 16 percent against 5,27,779 units in the year-ago period.
Commenting on the quarterly performance, Niranjan Gupta, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said, "A healthy festive period demand across most categories and specifically in auto sector have demonstrated that the underlying propensity to spend has gone up. The consumer confidence is coming back , which augurs well for growth momentum moving forward."
"Our results reflect our continued financial discipline, focus on cost savings and capital allocation on one hand, while ensuring premiumisation of our portfolio on the other. The Xtec Variants which have been launched across all key models have been received by the customers very well. We will continue to build presence in premium segment through multiple launches over the next few quarters," Gupta said further.
The global macro headwinds, as per the CFO, may keep the playfield a bit uncertain, and navigating the same over the next few quarters will be important. "However, as the commodities cool off, and the rate cycle reaches its peak, the medium-term outlook for the Indian auto industry appears quite encouraging," Gupta added.
Shares of Hero MotoCorp on Thursday (November 3) ended 0.15 percent higher at Rs 2,646.10 apiece on the BSE.