Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) reported an eightfold jump in standalone second-quarter net profit after exceptional items at ₹1,432 crore, aided by volume growth and cost cuts.
Profit was boosted by a sharply lower impairment charge on long-term investments of ₹255 crore, against ₹1,149.46 crore in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 15% to ₹13,305 crore.
Demand outstripped supply last quarter and the auto business continued to see a strong booking pipeline, top company executives said.
The introduction of the XUV 7OO saw ‘overwhelming’ response, the SUV and tractor maker said, adding that more than 70,000 bookings had been made to date.
In the farm eEquipment sector M&M’s market share for tractors increased 1.9 percentage points to 40.1%.
The firm said volumes of electric three-wheelers increased more than fourfold.
The company added that it would invest ₹13,500 crore over three years to develop new products and invest in subsidiaries. This includes ₹6,000 crore for the traditional auto business and ₹3,000 crore in the electric vehicles (EV) unit. While ₹3,000 crore would be invested in the farm equipment sector, ₹1,500 crore would go to the subsidiaries.
The company said it would introduce 13 new SUVs including 8 EVs by 2027 and that they were under various stages of development. “We have seen significant all around improvement in our performance this quarter,” MD and CEO Anish Shah said.
“Commodity prices have impacted our margins in both the auto and farm business, but our focus on cost management and optimisation has helped mitigate some of the impact,” said group CFO Manoj Bhat.