Ashok Leyland skids on Q4 numbers

The market is hugely disappointed with the performance of Ashok Leyland. Currently the second top loser on the BSE, the stock is down almost 4.5% at Rs.68.40, its intra day low point. It opened a bit stronger but soon profit booking pushed down the stock price.

The company, for Q4FY15, posted a 37% (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs.230 crore and this was despite a very good 47% increase in net sales at Rs.4435 crore. Costs have risen 38, mainly led by the 52% jump in raw material costs. But the numbers at operating level are excellent – EBITDA was up by a whopping 158% at Rs.457 crore and margins have jumped up from 5.75% to 10.14%. Costs actually, visa-a-vis revenue earned YoY has come down – it was at 97% in previous Q4 and it is now at 92%. Finance costs are down 21% but tax outgo surged 115% sequentially and in Q4FY14, it had a write back of Rs.4 crore. Operationally, it has actually been a very good performance and the market is over reacting