Hero MotoCorp profit skids 8% to Rs 3,385 crore in FY19; announces dividend of Rs 32 per share

Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, on Friday reported 8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in net profit at Rs 3,385 crore for the recently concluded financial year 2018-2019.

"The company posted the net profit at Rs 3,697 crore in the previous financial year 2017-2018," Hero MotoCorp said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

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Riding on its highest-ever sales of 78,20,745 units in a financial year, Hero MotoCorp clocked a revenue of Rs 33,651 crore for FY19, as compared to Rs 32,230 crore of FY18.

At the operating level, the company's operating margin (EBIDTA margin) stood at 14.7 per cent as on March 31, 2019 versus 16.4 per cent in the previous year.

In January-March quarter, the two-wheeler maker's net profit plunged 24.5 per cent to Rs 730.3 crore from Rs 967.40 crore in the year ago quarter. The EBIDTA margin for the quarter stood at 13.6 per cent versus 16 per cent for Q4 FY18.

Revenues from operations slipped 8 per cent to Rs 7,885 crore in the fourth quarter, compared to Rs 8,564 crore posted in the same period last year.

"The fourth quarter of FY19 was a difficult period that saw the two-wheeler industry contract significantly in the face of external factors," the company said in the exchange filing.

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The board of the company recommended a final dividend of Rs 32 per equity share. The dividend, if declared at its AGM, will be paid by August 28, 2019.

Hero sold 78.2 lakh units during this fiscal as compared to 75.87 lakh units sold in previous year. On the quarterly basis, the auto major sold 17.81 lakh units in March quarter, lower from 20.01 lakh units sold in the same period last fiscal.

Commenting on the earnings numbers, Chairman, Pawan Munjal said: "While the near-term prospect of the domestic two-wheeler market is likely to remain challenging, the festive season however is expected to brighten up sentiment and revive growth in the second half of FY20."

The company also raised concerns that the current fiscal (FY 2020) is expected to be yet another challenging year in view of the upcoming stringent emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI.

Hero MotoCorp shares closed trade at Rs 2,604.15 apiece, down by 0.51 percent, on the BSE.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar