Apollo Tyres Ltd. posted net income of 1.8 billion rupees on consolidated net sales of 32.1 billion rupees for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2012. That compares to profit of 980 million rupees on sales of 32.3 billion rupees for the same period a year ago.
When the exchange rate is taken into account, Apollo posted net income of $33.2 million on net sales of $593.6 million for the third quarter of its 2012 fiscal year. Although sales were flat, profitability for the quarter jumped 84%. The company’s income to sales ratio was 5%.
For the first nine months of its fiscal year, Apollo recorded the following (with a comparison to the same period in 2011 in parentheses):
* net income of 1.8 billion rupees (up 84%);
* net sales of 32.1 billion rupees (down 0.3%);
* operating profit of 4.1 billion rupees (up 24%).
Apollo Chairman Onkar S Kanwar said, “The dynamics in our largest market – India, have not been easy. Europe and South Africa too are facing their own economic issues. In India, the commercial vehicle segment has been affected the most, while the other sectors have not remained unscathed.
"While we expect the passenger vehicle segment to recover in the next two quarters, commercial vehicle sales will take more time to normalize. Having said that, our continued focus on improving the product and customer mix across geographies, has helped us better our profitability. I believe that the worst is behind us, and we should see improvement in both automotive and tire sales from the beginning of the new fiscal.”
For results for Apollo's last fiscal year, see Sales are up, profits are down for Apollo.
