Bajaj Auto reported a 15.48% drop in fourth-quarter net profit to ₹802 crore, from ₹949 crore in the same period last year, after input costs increased and the company had to step up investment on migrating from BS-III to BS-IV platform.
Total income declined in the quarter to ₹5,506 crore, from ₹5,967 crore in the year-earlier period. For the financial year ended March 31, 2017, the company reported net profit fell 2.6% to ₹3,828 crore, as compared with ₹3,930 crore in the previous year. Total income also shrank to ₹24,310 crore, from ₹24,957 crore in the previous year.
Bajaj Auto also sold a lesser number of vehicles in 2016-17, at 36,65,950 units compared to 38,93,581 in the previous year.
However, Bajaj Auto said despite the difficult business environment it continued to earn EBITDA margin of 21.7%, which is among the best in the industry.
Surplus cash
The firm said cash and cash equivalents grew by 36% in 2016-17 to ₹12,368 crore. The board of directors recommended a dividend of ₹55 per share, which will cost the company ₹1,916 crore including dividend tax.
