Mahindra Group’s impressive show despite rise in material costs

The gross revenues and other income of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd. (MVML) during the quarter ended March 31, 2012, is Rs. 10,333.6 crores as against Rs. 7,542.5 crores in the same quarter of the previous year, a growth of 37 per cent. Net profit before tax for the quarter is Rs. 976.2 crores (Rs. 858.3 crores). After providing for tax the same is Rs. 911.3 crores (Rs. 672.4 crores), representing a growth of 35.5 per cent.

The gross revenues and other income of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and MVML during the year ended March 31, 2012, is Rs. 35,005.2 crores (Rs. 26,201.1 crores), a growth of 33.6 per cent. Net profit before tax is Rs. 3,785.8 crores (Rs. 3,544.5 crores). After providing for tax the same is Rs. 2,997 crores (Rs. 2,687 crores), representing a growth of 11.5 per cent. The operating margin for the combined entity in the current year is 13.3 per cent.

The growth in profits of the company, despite the relentless increase in material costs, is due to a good volume performance by both vehicles and tractors and tight control on expenses. Also, the scheme of arrangement for merger of the automotive business of M&M’s subsidiary, Mahindra Automotive Distributors Ltd. (MADPL), with M&M was approved by the High Court of Bombay vide its order dated March 30, 2012, and as required by the order, it has been given effect to with effect from April 1, 2011. In view of this, the Verito business of MADPL became a part of the current year financials of the company. Also, due to the merger, the past unabsorbed tax losses related to automotive business of MADPL became available to the company, and there was a one-time tax saving during the current year.

Standalone results
The gross revenues and other income of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. during the year ended March 31, 2012 is Rs. 34,820.3 crores (Rs. 25,989.2 crores), a growth of 34 per cent. Net profit after tax is Rs. 2,878.9 crores (Rs. 2,662.1 crores), a growth of 8.1 per cent.

In the passenger utility vehicle segment, the company sold a total of 2,02,217 vehicles, registering a growth of 19.5 per cent in F12. The company continued its dominant position with a market share of 55.1 per cent.

In the cars segment, the company sold 17,839 Verito units, registering a robust growth of 78.2 per cent over the previous year, with a market share of 9.5 per cent. It exported 29,176 vehicles during the year as against 17,138 vehicles in F2011, registering a growth of 70.2 per cent. SAARC, South America and South African markets extended healthy support to the company products.

For the third consecutive year, the company was the single largest tractor company in the world by volume, with sales of 2,36,666 units against 2,14,325 units sold last year, up 10.4 per cent. This includes domestic sales of 2,22,944 tractors against 2,02,513 tractors sold last year. With 41.4 per cent market share in the domestic tractor market, the company celebrated its 29th consecutive year of domestic market leadership. Also, its exports during the year grew by 16.2 per cent to 13,722 tractors as compared to 11,812 tractors exported in the previous year.

The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs. 12.50 (250 per cent) per share of face value Rs. 5 which will absorb Rs. 868.61 crores, inclusive of tax, against the previous year’s Rs. 11.50 per share of Rs. 802.64 crores, inclusive of tax.

The consolidated gross revenues and other income for the year ended March 31, 2012 grew by 58.9 per cent to Rs. 63,357.8 crores ($13.3 billion) from Rs. 39,864.4 crores ($8.3 billion) in the last year. The consolidated profit for the year after exceptional items and after deducting minority interests is Rs. 3,126.7 crores ($654.5 million) as compared to Rs. 3,079.7 crores ($644.7 million) earned in the previous year – a growth of 1.5 per cent. The commendable growth in group revenues during the year is due to the inclusion of the turnover of Ssangyong Motor Company Ltd. during the year. The sluggish growth in group profits is also to some extent due to the inclusion of Ssangyong results. Excluding Ssangyong, the growth in consolidated gross revenues is 28.1 per cent and that in profits 14.5 per cent.

During the year, some of the major group companies like Mahindra Finance, Mahindra Lifespace Developers and Mahindra Forgings significantly improved their performance over the previous year. The performance of Mahindra Finance with a 43 per cent growth in consolidated revenues and a 30 per cent increase in profits and that of Mahindra Forgings with a 27 per cent growth in consolidated revenues and a 12.8 times profit growth deserve special mention.

The group at the end of the year comprised 114 subsidiaries, six joint ventures and 11 associates. A full summation of gross revenues and other income of all the group companies taken together for the whole year is Rs. 73,556.8 crores ($15.4 billion).

With global risks escalating and continued weakness in the domestic macro environment, the near-term outlook for the economy is quite challenging. However, with its continuous focus on new product introduction, process innovation and cost control, the company expects to meet this challenge with a projected pick-up in the second half of 2012-13.