Ashok Leyland

“On the cost side, actually, you will see a marginal increase in the manpower cost because our increment cycle, it starts from July of every year, every financial year, so you will see a marginal 4%, 5% increase in the manpower cost over the previous quarter.”

“With improving situation, we are confident of reviving the GCC volumes and make up for the losses in the remaining year.”

“OHM is progressing well towards its PAT breakeven target, which we hope to achieve in the near future.”

“So yes, capex will continue to increase over the next 2 to 3 years. We can give you some more specific numbers once we have the whole plan ready.”

“And as company has more cash available to invest in its future growth, we would be looking at various new technologies, new products, white spaces where we are not there.”

“Defense order book and tender win pipeline remains ever strong.”

“Our EV subsidiary, Switch Mobility India, recently bagged an order of 650 electric buses. With this, Switch Mobility has a healthy order book of 2,100 e-buses.”

“Ashok Leyland domestic MHCV truck volume for the quarter was at 22,998 units, higher 15% Y-o-Y basis.”

“Our bus volume declined in the same period, mainly in the STU segment as the company decided not to take some unprofitable orders.”

“This is the highest ever Q1 volume recorded in LCV business. LCV VAHAN market share for Q1 was 13.2% with a gain of 30 basis points Y-o-Y.”

“Our foray into ASEAN in establishing it as our fourth home market outside India is progressing quite well.”

“Domestic aftermarket revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% Y-o-Y.”

“Overall, in Q1, the domestic MHCV industry volume grew by 13% on Y-o-Y basis, while the domestic LCV VAHAN industry grew by 17%.”

“Looking forward, we believe that the overall demand drivers for commercial vehicles remain positive.”

“I think in Q2, the situation should actually drastically improve, both at the industry level and more so at Ashok Leyland level.”

“we saw that huge momentum coming back in June, and June industry grew by more than 20%. And that momentum continued in July because July MHCV industry growth was also more than 20%.”

“And August, the sentiment is looking also quite positive. So definitely, I mean, against a 13%, 14% growth in Q1, the growth should be much better in Q2.”

“Despite record revenues, the EBITDA was flat at INR970 crores as compared to same quarter last year. EBITDA margin was 10.1%, 100 basis points lower on Y-o-Y basis.”

“We witnessed rising trends in the material costs owing to supply chain disruptions and commodity pressures.”

“As a percentage of revenue, the material cost stood at 71.5% for the quarter, higher by 90 basis points Y-o-Y, but in line with Q4.”

“We had maintained considerable inventory, both in terms of production inventory as well as finished inventory as opening stock, so we could use about one fifth to one fourth of the total requirements in this quarter from the opening.”

“For us, we carried about 6,500 vehicles at the opening level. And again, this 6,500 level of stock at the opening level, it got increased to about 8,500 level as at the quarter end.”

“We had net cash of INR2,252 crores at the end of the year, an increase of more than INR1,431 crores on a Y-o-Y basis.”

“And now we have about GBP 50 million debt, which is there, and we don't want to incur interest cost. So, we are trying to pay another GBP 25 million by this year, and we will pay another GBP 25 million by next year.”

“Investments in subsidiaries in Q1 was at INR10 crores.”

“In terms of new products, the highlight of the quarter was introduction of new air suspension technology in multi-axle trucks, which is an industry first and provides our customers industry best payload”

“Our new product pipeline remains strong with many more launches slated for the rest of the year.”

“NDL Ventures Limited and Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited have received the requisite approvals from their equity shareholders and unsecured creditors. The entities will now approach the NCLT for the requisite approvals and, upon receipt, will proceed with the merger and the listing processes.”

“The second aspect, which you said on the HHF, it is a growth capital which we are giving. The merger is in progress as far as HLF is concerned. And the capital structure of HLF cannot be disturbed at this point of time.”

“We remain mindful of the key risks, particularly the elevated commodity prices, but shall continue to put all efforts to achieve better price realization and mix, higher cost savings and enhanced operational discipline.”

“Just to add on to that - the challenges we see continuing the commodity price side. Respite from that we think will come in Q3 and Q4 only. So it will be a challenging quarter”

“Beyond that, there was kind of a high base of last year that we will face, because the industry started growing by about 20%, 21% starting October, November last year.”

“And my personal opinion is BS7, we should not see in India in CV before 2031, and it could also be 2032.”

“The challenge, of course, remains of the regulatory related cost increases, but the idea is how we can make it relevant for the customer by impacting the TCO positively.”

“Overall, Ashok Leyland domestic MHCV market share stood at 29% for the period.”

“Our overall CV volumes at 48,673 units, the new peak for quarter 1. This includes defense vehicles.”

“Coming to financial performance, Ashok Leyland achieved a record quarter 1 revenue at INR9,634 crores, higher by 10% Y-o-Y.”

“PBT for the quarter was at INR830 crores, higher 4% Y-o-Y. Profit after tax was at INR609 crores, higher 3% Y-o-Y.”

“During the quarter, we added 33 touch points in our MHCV and LCV businesses. The focus of new additions continues in North and East region, where we have a higher headroom.”