Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), India’s second-largest motorcycle maker, has doubled its net profit in three months ending September 2009.
Net profits rose to Rs 403 crore, or RS 27.8 a share, compared with Rs 185 crore, or Rs 12.8 a year earlier. Sales turnover for the same period was at Rs 2,909 crore, up 14 per cent from the same period last year. Operating profit was up 94 per cent at Rs 603 crore.
Domestic demand for Pulsar and Discover motorcycles and auto-rickshaws rose 7 per cent, while exports rose to a quarterly record.
The newly launched 100 cc Discover has turned out to be the ‘volume bike’ for the company. Sales crossed a lakh within the first fifty days, and BAL claims to have sold in excess of 1.6 lakh since its mid-2009 launch.
BAL has also said that commercial vehicle sales on its three-wheeler platform have risen by 30 per cent over the same period last year.