BRIEF: Ashok Leyland Q2 profit soars past estimates 

BRIEF: Ashok Leyland Q2 profit soars past estimates

CHENNAI, Nov 09, 2012 (Menafn - Mint - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Ashok Leyland Ltd, India's second-biggest maker of trucks and buses, said second-quarter profit fell 7.5% to Rs 142.6 crore, beating analysts' estimates.

A Bloomberg survey of analysts expected net income of Rs86.47 crore in the three months ended 30 September. Net sales rose 5% to Rs3,222.43 crore. Analysts had expected sales at Rs 3,182.8 crore.

Ashok Leyland said it has increased its market share by 2.5% in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) segment in the first half of the year, despite the total industry volume falling by 13%.

MHCV volume had taken a hit over the last few months, because of slowing in industrial activity and lack of freight demand. Also, the 10-12% increase in freight rates following the diesel price hike, further dampened truck sales.

"The company's revenue is at least 10% higher than what we had expected. This led to unexpected increase in operating profit, and thus the net profit," said Ajay Shetiya, analyst at Centrum Broking.

Shares of Ashok Leyland fell 2.82% at Rs.24.10 on BSE Ltd.

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