Two and three-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported a sharp jump in earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 owing to a lower base with revenue in line with estimates and net profit and margin missing estimates.

Bajaj Auto posted a net profit of Rs 1,061.2 crore in the June quarter as against Rs 528 crore in the year-ago period. CNBC-TV18 analysts’ poll had an estimated net profit of Rs 1,137 crore.

Revenue from operations during Q1FY22 increased to Rs 7,386 crore from Rs 3,079.2 crore, YoY. Revenue was in line with estimates of Rs 7,352 crore.

“Q1FY22 has been a challenging quarter; the recovery over the past three quarters got undone with the second wave of COVID-19 which again led to restrictions and full or partial lockdowns. This resulted in weaker domestic demand, which was partially offset with strong exports across all major geographies,” Bajaj Auto said in a regulatory filing.

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped to Rs 1,120 crore from Rs 408.5 crore, while EBITDA margin expanded to 15.2 percent from 13.3 percent, YoY.

The operational performance was lower than estimates as EBITDA was expected at Rs 1,176 crore and EBITDA margin at 16 percent.

“Increase in cost of raw materials, net of an increase in prices, resulted in lower EBITDA margin by 220 bps,” the company said.

However, the above was partially offset from higher USD realisation and improved mix, it added.

For Q1FY22, the company sold over one million units in India and across the globe.

Motorcycles sold nearly 342,000 units in the domestic market. Its domestic motorcycle market share improved to 19.7 percent in Q1FY22 as against 17.3 percent in Q4FY21.

Over 14,000 units of commercial vehicles were sold in the domestic market. Volumes are still a fraction of pre-pandemic levels, the company said.

The company sold over 648,000 units in various international markets, despite challenges in the availability of containers. By region, Africa, SAME, and LA TAM continued to record strong sales, it added.

Bajaj Auto also incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary for manufacturing electric and hybrid vehicles in the two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and light 4 wheeler categories.

First Published:Jul 22, 2021 1:27 PM IST