CHENNAI:
Ashok Leyland Limited, flagship of the Hinduja Group, reported a revenue of Rs. 7,000 Cr in Q4 FY ’21 as against Rs. 3,838 Cr for the same period last year; Revenue grew by 82% year on year. PBT for the quarter was at Rs. 314 Cr as against of loss Rs. 72 Cr for the same period last year. PAT was at Rs. 241 Cr as against a loss Rs. 57 Cr in Q4 last year. Q4 EBITDA was at 7.6% as against 4.8% last year. The total MHCV industry volume had gone up by 66%.
During Q4 FY’21, year on year MHCV truck volumes for AL have grown at 111% which is better than the rate of growth of the industry. AL’s MHCV truck market share for Q4 FY’21 has therefore improved to 28.9% vis-a-vis 27.6% in Q4 FY’20.
Q4 consolidated revenue at Rs. 8,142 Cr is 60% higher than last year revenue of Rs. 5,088 Cr. Q 4 consolidated PAT is at Rs. 377 Cr which is 5.5 times higher than last year PAT of Rs. 58 Cr.
Revenue for full year was at Rs. 15,301 Cr as against Rs. 17,467 Cr over the same period last year. Loss before tax was Rs. 412 Cr as against a profit before tax of Rs. 362 Cr last year. Loss after tax was at Rs. 314 Cr as against a profit after tax of Rs. 240 Cr last year. Full year EBITDA was at 3.5% as against 6.7% last year. The total MHCV industry volume for the full year de-grew by 28%.
Full year consolidated revenue at Rs. 19,454 Cr is 11% lower than last year revenue of Rs. 21,951 Cr. Consolidated Loss after tax is at Rs. 70 Cr when compared to a PAT of Rs. 460 Cr last year.
The challenges in the market due to COVID-19 impacted the volumes and performance of the company and industry in the first half of FY 2020-21, however the company and the industry saw healthy sequential recovery in the second half of FY 2020-21, post the gradual removal of the lockdown.
Sequentially, over Q3 FY ’21, MHCV truck volumes for AL have grown by 57% in Q4 FY’21 which was higher than the industry growth of 53%, thereby resulting in market share improvement of 0.8% (28.9% in Q4 Vs 28.1% in Q3).
This performance was backed by the successful AVTR range – India’s first modular truck platform which was launched in June ‘20. The AVTR platform gives customers a choice to customize their truck as per their unique requirements. The platform has been delivering best-in-class total cost of ownership across segments which has been widely appreciated by customers.
LCV volume for Q4 FY’21 at 17,042 nos. is 112% higher than last year volume of 8,057 nos. The Bada Dost launched in September ’20 has clocked good volumes with more than 4,550 vehicles having been sold in Q4 FY’21. On a full year basis, LCV domestic volumes for AL have grown by 4% at 46,671 nos. (LY 44,912 nos) bucking the industry trend. LCV truck volumes for the industry de grew by about 11½%.
Despite the pandemic situation, Q4 MHCV & LCV exports at 3,164 nos. have grown by 40% over Q4 last year (2,255 nos.). On a full year basis our export volumes at 8,001 nos. is lower than last year (8,920 nos.) by 10%.
Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO Ashok Leyland Limited said, “We have seen recovery in Q4 FY’21 and the overall performance has been better. However, with the sudden onset of the second wave, the challenges for the industry continues. We are better prepared this time. With India’s GDP poised to grow at 9.5% in FY’22, it augurs well for the CV industry. At Ashok Leyland, we remain rock solid and resilient, driven by our Newgen products and a talented team we are confident that we will come out stronger once demand picks up. This will help us deliver profitable growth”.
Gopal Mahadevan, Whole Time Director & Chief Financial Officer, Ashok Leyland Limited said, “We believe that the Q4 performance posted a good recovery. Our market shares have been growing steadily quarter on quarter in MHCV and in LCV, volumes have really picked up. All other businesses including Aftermarket and Power Solutions have done exceptionally well. The focus on cost and productivity continues”
Going forward Ashok Leyland sees good opportunities to continue to grow the Exports, Defence, Power solutions, LCV and Parts business even as it expands the reach and products of the core MHCV business. The focus on Digital will help leverage the benefits of efficiency and cost. Customer requirements will be at the core of all the Digital initiatives. The emerging businesses such as Electric Vehicle (EV) and Customer Solutions (CSB) will assist in complementing the core business. Ashok Leyland has created a dedicated EV-only entity called SWITCH Mobility headquartered in UK.
Ashok Leyland stays committed to Sustainability, and in order to bring a singular focus to this initiative, a separate ESG committee of the Board, headed by an independent director has been carved out. The role of this Board Committee will be to provide appropriate oversight and guidance in the Company’s journey on organization-wide ESG initiatives, priorities, and leading ESG practices.
The Directors have recommended a dividend of Rs. 0.60 per equity share of Re. 1 each for the financial year ended 31st March 2021.
