Replacement Tire Sales Aid Apollo in 1Q

Aug. 1, 2019

Sales are up, profits are down following the release of Apollo Tyres Ltd.'s first-quarter results.

Apollo posted net income of 1.4 billion rupees on net sales of 42.7 billion rupees for its first quarter ended June 30, 2019. That compares to income of 2.5 billion rupees on sales of 42.5 billion rupees for the same period in fiscal 2018-2019.

When taking the exchange rate into account, Apollo recorded net income of nearly $20.4 million on net sales of $614.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019-2020. Its income-to-sales ratio was 3.3%.

Operating income dropped 11.7%, from 5.7 billion rupees to 5 billion rupees.

The company says the slight increase in net sales was "aided by growth in the replacement segment, both in commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle segment in India." Overall sales growth in India was 1%; in Europe it was 5%.

"Our teams have lived to the true 'unstoppable' spirit in the past quarter, and have bucked the trend in the automotive sector by posting positive sales numbers, despite the headwinds, especially in the Indian market," said Apollo Chairman Onkar Kanwar. "While the demand from the auto makers remained subdued, there was growth in the replacement market segment.

"Moving ahead, I am hopeful of the markets recovering and the sales bouncing back around the festive season in India. In Europe, we are performing better than the industry, which is likely to continue going forward as well."