M&M tops Q3 profit estimates

NEW LAUNCHES REV UP Q3 EARNINGS

- SWARAJ BAGGONKAR

MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA (M&M) on Friday posted a 19% jump in its net profit to ₹2,964 crore in the December quarter at the standalone level, beating Street estimate, helped by a richer product mix in the SUV category, a surge in tractor volume and benign input costs. The Bloomberg standalone net profit estimate was ₹2,921 crore for Q3.

The automaker's standalone revenue from operations jumped 20% y-o-y to ₹30,538 crore, lower than the Bloomberg estimate of ₹30,837 crore. Helped by a strong growth in profitability in tractors, the operating margin improved to 15.5%, a 130-basis-point rise.

CFO Amarjyoti Barua said, "We continue to do extremely well in cash generation. From the beginning of the year, the business has generated over ₹4,000 crore in cash despite spending a significant amount of increased capex in the EV portfolio."