Escorts Ltd

The company posted a mixed set of numbers for Q3FY15. Its net profit for the quarter came in at Rs.36 crore, down 20% (YoY) and this was on account of a 10% drop in net sales at Rs.1042 crore. Tax write of Rs.2 crore helped shore up the bottomline a bit. The downturn in the tractor industry is expected to continue due to low yield coupled with low crop prices. Drop in turnover was largely on account of a 17% drop in tractor volumes at 15,881 tractors against 19,047 tractor (YoY) and this impacted overall profits which correspondingly went down.

Domestic tractor industry remains flat sequentially, company posted an increase of 9.5% in domestic tractor volumes to 15,455 against 14,117 tractor in preceding quarter. Total volume was up by 5.8% to 15,881 tractor against 15,013 tractor. Construction Equipment posted an increase of 7.2% sequentially in volume at 801 units  and up 8.7% (YoY). In the current Q4 too, demand for tractors is expected to be low but it hopes construction segment will pick up. The company launched two new tractors in Q3 – 4W drive rractor in the Farmtrac Brand and Anti Lift Tractor in the Powertrac brand.