India's Apollo Tyres beats Q4 profit view on lower rubber costs, strong demand

MRF

09/05/2023 15:18

BENGALURU, May 9 (Reuters) - Indian tyre maker Apollo
Tyres Ltd.  APLO.NS  reported a nearly four-fold rise in
fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, beating estimates, aided by
lower rubber costs and strong domestic auto sales.
    The company's consolidated profit nearly quadrupled to 4.27
billion rupees ($52.21 million) in the quarter ended March 31
from 1.13 billion rupees a year earlier.
     Analysts, on average, had estimated a profit of 3.44
billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
    Softening rubber costs and strong vehicle sales in India in
the first three months of the year have benefited Indian tyre
makers, including MRF Ltd  MRF.NS  and Ceat Ltd  CEAT.NS .
    Analysts said that the price hikes also helped the companies
bolster their margins, with Ceat reporting a five-fold jump in
profit and MRF reporting its profit more than doubled for the
quarter ended March 31.
    Apollo's revenue from operations rose 12% to 62.47 billion
rupees as the cost of materials consumed fell around 11.2%
compared to the year-ago quarter. 
    The company's total expenses, however, rose about 5.6%
year-over-year. 
    Sales in the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), the
company's biggest segment, increased nearly 10%.
    Apollo also recommended a final dividend of 4 rupees per
share.
    
   
($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane
Venkatraman)
 ((anisha.ajith@thomsonreuters.com;))