Higher sales help M&M beat forecasts

Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra on Thursday reported a marginal increase in its standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 at Rs 889.19 crore (Rs 8.89 billion).

The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 874.48 crore (Rs 8.74 billion) in the same period previous fiscal, Mahindra & Mahindra said in a filing to the BSE.

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Standalone net income from operations during the period under review stood at Rs 10,486.53 crore (Rs 104.87 billion) as against Rs 9,380.84 crore (Rs 93.81 billion) in the year-ago quarter, the company said.

During the quarter, the company said it posted 23 per cent growth in sales of passenger utility vehicles at 72,076 units, while it sold a total of 3,737 units of its sedan Verito.

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Tractor sales were, however, down to 46,107 units as against 48,517 units in the year-ago period, the company said.

For the fiscal 2012-13, the company said its standalone net profit was at Rs 3,352.82 crore (Rs 33.53 billion) as compared to Rs 2,878.89 crore (Rs 28.79 billion) in 2011-12.

M&M said its net income from operations during FY13 stood at Rs 40,441.16 crore (Rs 404.41 billion) as against Rs 31,847.19 crore (Rs 318.47 billion) in the previous fiscal.

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The company said its board has recommended 250 per cent dividend of Rs 12.50 per share and a special 10 per cent dividend of 50 paisa per share of face value Rs 5, aggregating Rs 13 per share totalling an outgo of Rs 891.15 crore (Rs 8.91 billion).

Commenting on the outlook, the company said the additional three per cent excise duty imposed on SUVs may affect margins going forward.

"Also the auto industry is witnessing a general slowdown, which again calls for some caution in future," M&M said.