Indus Motor’s profit soars over 200%

Sharp rise in net sales, other income fuels increase in earnings

KARACHI:

Indus Motor Company’s profit soared over 200% to Rs2.96 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2020 owing to a sharp increase in net sales and other income.

According to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, the car manufacturer had posted a profit of Rs985.8 million in the corresponding period of previous year.

Earnings per share of the company came in at Rs37.60 for October-December 2020 as opposed to Rs12.54 in the same quarter of 2019.

Alongside the result, the company declared an interim cash dividend of Rs25 per share, taking total dividend for the first half of fiscal year 2020-21 to Rs37 per share. Net sales skyrocketed 106% as they climbed from Rs22.1 billion in October-December 2019 to Rs45.5 billion in OctoberDecember 2020.

Arif Habib Limited analyst Arsalan Hanif said the surge in topline came primarily due to a 93% year-on-year spike in car sales in 2QFY21 (14,424 units against 7,468 units in 2QFY20).

“Gross margins settled at 8.19% in the quarter, up by 22bps year-on-year due to rupee appreciation, which wiped off the impact of higher steel prices, together with the change in sales mix from low margin cars to high margin vehicles,” he said in a report.

The analyst elaborated that Fortuner and Hilux sales increased by 200% and 103% respectively.

Distribution expenses of the firm inched up 2% to Rs345.7 million in the OctoberDecember quarter of 2020.

The company had reported Rs337.4 million in distribution expenses in the same quarter of 2019.

The financial statement showed a 10% contraction in administrative expenses as they fell from Rs366.8 million in the October-December quarter of 2019 to Rs329 million in October-December 2020. Other income of the company increased from Rs532.1 million in October-December 2019 to Rs1.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, a jump of 157%.

“Other income of the company increased on account of a significant jump in shortterm investment (government securities), and cash and bank balances,” Hanif said. Indus Motor Company’s finance cost, however, grew 30.6% to Rs24.2 million during the period under review.

The company had reported finance cost of Rs18.5 million in the same quarter of 2019.

According to the analyst, the effective tax rate during 2QFY21 was 28.69% in contrast to 30.36% in 2QFY20.

During the day, the share price of Indus Motor Company fell Rs12.69 to close at Rs1,114.61 with 24,060 shares changing hands at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.