Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world’s largest selling two-wheeler maker, reported a 35% rise in fourth-quarter profit on higher sales.
The company reported fourth-quarter net profit of ₹ 967.40 crore, when compared to ₹ 717.75 crore in the same period last year.
Net sales rose 23.7% to ₹ 8,564.04 crore from ₹ 6,922.80 crore in the same period last year. The firm sold over 20 lakh two-wheelers during the quarter under review, up 23% over the year-earlier period. The company witnessed 22% volume growth in the motorcycle segment and 34% growth in the scooter segment.
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The results where in-line with expectations, Abhishek Jain, analyst at HDFC Securities, said.
“With 50% of sales coming from rural markets, we believe Hero is likely to benefit from rural recovery, with strong brand equity in the economy and executive segments. The company is rolling out of 2 new models (Maestro Edge 125 and Duet 125) in next 3-4 months. This will provide much-needed support to volume growth,” he added.
Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd., emphasized on the push towards electric vehicles.
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“Hero MotoCorp, a company strongly driven by customer preference and technological innovation, recognised the growing future environmental demands ahead of its times, and thus have made strategic investments in the electric vehicles segment. Development is under way on the strategic priorities of engaging with the external ecosystem, including start-ups, in a meaningful way. As part of this focus, Hero MotoCorp has made an investment of ₹ 201 crore in Ather Energy to acquire about 30% equity. Ather will soon start retailing its smart electric scooter S340,” he said in a statement.
“Another big leap, catering to popular customer demand, Hero MotoCorp, marked its entry in the premium motorcycle segment as we unveiled two new 200cc motorcycles – ‘XPulse’ and ‘Xtreme 200R’ - at Auto Expo 2018. The sales will begin in FY ’19. At the same time, we will continue to build and explore new age technology solutions to be future ready,” he added.