Bajaj Auto’s June quarter revenue drops 60% y-o-y

Bajaj Auto Ltd on Wednesday reported a 60% year-on-year drop in its total revenue from operations at ₹3,079 crore for the quarter ended 30 June due to covid-led disruptions. On quarterly basis, the revenue declined 55%.

The company’s standalone profit for the given period stood at ₹528 crore, down 53% from ₹1,126 crore in the same quarter of the preceding fiscal. The operating profit declined 68% to ₹376 crore from ₹1,189 crore in the year-ago period.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or Ebidta margins for the June quarter stood at 14.3%, versus 16.1% in the last quarter of the preceding fiscal.

Strict cost controls across all plants, locations and cut in marketing and advertising spends helped Bajaj Auto report Ebidta of ₹441 crore for the June quarter. In the Q1FY20, the company’s Ebidta stood at ₹1,250 crore. Bajaj Auto’s surplus cash and cash equivalents stood at ₹14,232 crore as of 30 June 2020.

The first quarter of FY21 was marred by uneven production schedules due to plant shutdown during April. After zero sales in April, a large part of May was also lost as several regional markets remained under lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, the company said.

The month of June, however, witnessed a sharp recovery sequentially on the back of robust farm produce and pent up demand coming from the rural and semi-urban markets.

Bajaj Auto’s total vehicle sales during the period under review stood at 443,103 units, down 64% from 1,247,174 units in the year-ago period.

The company’s overall two-wheeler sales for the April-June quarter declined 63% to 399,929 units, from 1,082,627 units during January-March.

Bajaj Pulsar led the domestic sales in the June quarter with more than 69,000 units sold in the 150cc segment and over 32,000 units sold in the 125cc executive commuter category. The affordable models such as CT100 and Platina variants accounted for over 32,000 units and 45,000 units respectively in the given period.

In the premium motorcycle segment, which includes the high margin products, the company sold 3,400 units of KTM and Husqvarna range in Q1FY21. From the Dominar series and the RS200, Bajaj Auto sold over 2,500 units.

Bajaj Auto, also India’s largest three-wheeler manufacturer, has taken a big hit in its commercial vehicle business. At 5,282 units, the company witnessed a 94% drop in its domestic three-wheeler volumes during the June quarter.

Bajaj Auto’s overall commercial vehicle volumes, including exports, for the quarter stood at 43,174 units, down 74% y-o-y.

The company’s overall export volumes declined 54% in the June quarter on an yearly basis. This was led by 67% volume decline in shipments to the Asean region, 63% to Latin America and 50% to African markets during the period under review.

The company, which has also reported more than 350 covid positive cases at its Aurangabad plant during the last quarter, said that it has paid full salaries to all of its employees during the period.