India's TVS Motor misses quarterly profit view on higher costs

TVS Motor, India’s third-largest two-wheeler maker, reported a 31% rise in its fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday but missed analysts estimates slightly as soaring raw material costs offset strong local demand for its scooters and motorbikes.

The Jupiter scooter maker reported a profit of 9.98 billion rupees ($104.28 million) for the March quarter, missing analysts’ average estimate of 10.09 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Analysts say last year’s tax rate cuts are likely to sustain demand over the next two to three quarters and a strategic push towards premium models should help offset margin pressures from the Middle East conflict as the company rapidly expands EV scooter production.

TVS Motor’s two-wheeler sales rose 27% year-on-year to about 1.35 million units in the March quarter, driven by an strong domestic sales and an increase in exports.

Exports accounted for roughly 25% of its total sales in the fourth quarter, while EV sales, which accounted for 3% of overall sales, rose 51%.

Revenue from operations jumped about 34% to 128.08 billion rupees and beat analysts estimates while total expenses rose 35.2%.

The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin expanded by 60 basis points to 13.1%.