Bajaj Auto sees 3% yoy rise in Q3FY18 standalone PAT; shares down 6%

Bajaj Auto, Two and Three wheeler manufacturer, witnessed 3% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its standalone net profit during third quarter ended December 2017 (Q3FY18) result.
 
Bajaj Auto recorded standalone net profit of Rs 952.44 crore in Q3FY18, up by 3% from Rs 924.62 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
 
However, Q3FY18 net profit dropped by 14.33% compared to Rs 1,111.86 crore of the preceding quarter.
 
Standalone revenue from operations stood at Rs 6,369.34 crore - which was up 18.96% versus Rs 5,354.13 crore in Q3FY17 but down by 3% versus Rs 6,566.43 crore in Q2FY18.
 
A Bloomberg poll of experts predicted net profit and revenue to be at Rs 1,080 crore and Rs 6,240 crore respectively.
 
Standalone EBITDA (operating profit) came in at Rs 1,325 crore - growing by 17% as against Rs 1,131 crore a year ago same period. EBITDA margins stood at 20.6%.
 
For nine month period of FY18, the company's net profit stood at Rs 2,988.23 crore - sequentially down by 1.24% from Rs 3,025.74 crore in 9MFY17. On the other hand, revenue grew by 5.12% to Rs 18,789.96 crore versus revenue of Rs 17,875.20 crore in 9MFY17.
 
On consolidated basis, the net profit stood at Rs 1,013 crore - increasing by just 4% from Rs 977 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.
 
Bajaj Auto sold a total of 1,001,469 vehicle in Q3FY18 - higher by 18% from 851,645 vehicle sold a year ago same period. Both domestic and export sales witnessed positive performance.
 
Domestic sales came in at 576,554 units - up by 12% from 513,029 units in Q3FY17, while exports were at 424,915 units - higher by 25% versus 338,616 units in Q3FY17.
 
During Q3FY18, Bajaj Auto recorded highest ever commercial vehicles sales to 110,123 units in domestic market. Taking both domestic and export market - commercial vehicles performance was at 182,959 units - also highest ever.
 
So far in FY18, total sales of Bajaj Auto stands at 2,961,413 units - clocking single digit growth of 3% as against 2,878,323 units in 9MFY17.
 
In international market, new and nascent markets continue to witness healthy growth - 45% for 9MFY18 and now form 13% of total exports in volume.
 
As on December 2017, surplus cash and cash equivalents of Bajaj Auto stood at Rs 13,554 crore as against Rs 12,699 crore as on September 2017.
 
After clocking 52-week high of Rs 3,472.60 per piece on BSE, post Q3FY18 announcement, the share price of Bajaj Auto has reversed trend and is trading at Rs 3210.50 per piece down Rs 199 or 5.74%.