Good times continue to roll for Bajaj Auto Limited as the Indian two-wheeler major posted healthy second quarter results for financial year 2015. The total turnover for the Q2 FY15 stood at Rs 6,077 crore versus Rs 5,2999 crore last year. Out of the total turnover of Rs 6,077, crore, Rs 2,736 crore came from exports. The profit after tax number stood at Rs 591 crore versus 837 crores in the same period last year.
During the second quarter, Bajaj Auto sold nearly 900,000 motorcycles in domestic as well as international market, reporting a growth of almost 6 percent. Pulsar and Avenger continues to be a dominant player and enjoys a domestic market share of about 42%. Bajaj’s Discover range of motorcycles sold nearly 252,000 units in domestic and export markets.
The commercial vehicle business reported highest ever numbers with nearly 156,000 units sold worldwide. Market share improved from 25% in April 2014 to 32% in September 2014.
Bajaj Auto continues to record the highest operating EBITDA margin in the industry – 20.8%. This is a reflection of the company’s focus on innovation, differentiation and its Brand centric strategy. It is for this reason that Bajaj Auto was ranked “in top 100 Worlds Most Innovative Companies 2014” and “5th in top 50 most valuable Indian brands 2014”.
Performance Highlights
| Rs (In Crore) | Q2 FY15 | Q1 FY14 | H1 FY15 | H1 FY14 | FY14 |
| Sales (Numbers) | 1,055,582 | 961,330 | 2,044,012 | 1,940,605 | 3,870,077 |
| Turnover | 6,077 | 5,299 | 11,548 | 10,386 | 20,856 |
| Export Revenue | 2,736 | 2,125 | 4,987 | 4,000 | 8,199 |
| Operating EBITDA* | 1,248 | 1,204 | 2,286 | 2,260 | 4,382 |
| Operating EBITDA %* | 20.8 | 23.1 | 20.2 | 22.2 | 21.5 |
| Profit Before Tax and Exceptional Item | 1,172 | 1,212 | 2,247 | 2,250 | 4,632 |
| Exceptional Item | 340 | – | 340 | – | – |
| Profit After Tax | 591 | 837 | 1,331 | 1,575 | 3,243 |
Note: Excluding Exceptional Item
| Profit After Tax | 853 | 837 | 1,593 | 1,575 | 3,243 |
* before mark-to-market (MTM) loss and CSR spends
Exceptional Item – National Calamity Contingent Duty ( NCCD )
The Company had filed a writ petition before the Honourable High Court of Uttarakhand, in October 2011, claiming benefit of exemption from payment of NCCD by our Pantnagar plant. On 9th October 2014, the Honourable High Court ruled otherwise. Accordingly, in this quarter, the company has recognised this liability for the last seven and a half years, i.e. 1st April 2007 to 30th September 2014 aggregating to Rs 340.29 crore.
In conclusion, Q2 / FY15 has been an excellent quarter – the high margin business verticals of the company, namely “Export”, “Commercial Vehicle”, “Pulsar” and “Auto spare part”; representing nearly 85% of the business have performed extremely well. And given the initial response to the Discover 150, the company looks forward to a very rewarding future.