Bajaj Auto Q2 sales down 10 per cent

Bajaj Auto  (BAL) on Saturday reported 2.05 per cent growth in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 at Rs 740.67 crore as compared with a net profit of Rs 725.80 crore in the comparable quarter last fiscal.

During the quarter under review, the company's net income dropped 4.11 per cent to Rs 4,972.40 crore from Rs 5,185.36 crore in the similar quarter a year ago, BAL said.

In a statement issued to BSE, BAL said, “The quarter was a challenging quarter for the industry at large. The motorcycle industry, which witnessed a CAGR of 15 per cent over last four years, witnessed a decline of about 9 per cent in Q2 of FY13.” The operating margin slipped to 19.7 per cent during the quarter, down from 20.1 per cent a year earlier on account of decline in the domestic sales of its motorcycles which fell by 12 per cent, a larger fall than the overall market.