New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyland today reported 58.55 per cent fall in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, at Rs 43.37 crore.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 104.63 crore in the year-ago three-month period, Ashok Leyland said in a statement.

The net sales of the company, however, increased by 22.55 per cent to Rs 2,227.25 crore from Rs 1,817.49 crore in the corresponding period previous year, it added.

During the quarter under review, the commercial vehicle maker sold 18,437 units compared to 16,129 units, up 14.31 per cent, the statement said.

“As I had forewarned, after the robustness of the second quarter of this fiscal, the third quarter has been bit of a dampener attributable to the time taken by the market to accept the new emission norms and critical supply issues,” Ashok Leyland Managing Director R Seshasayee said.

During the quarter, the company”s employee cost rose by 40.49 per cent at Rs 243.92 crore from Rs 173.62 crore in the year-ago period, owing partly to increase in staff strength.

“Other expenditure also increased by 34.52 per cent at Rs 187.93 crore as against Rs 139.70 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal,” the company said.

Ashok Leyland attributed the increase in expenses for the setting and ramping up of the Pantnagar manufacturing facility, increased focus on R&D and the high-decibel launch of the new, innovative U-Truck platform.

Besides, financial expenses were also up by nearly three-fold at Rs 47.48 crore compared to Rs 16.21 crore due to an increase in working capital.

source: Business Standard

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