Bosch Ltd registers 3.3% revenue growth in third quarter of 2012

November 6, 2012: Bosch Ltd has registered sales revenue of ? 2,030.3 crore in the third quarter of 2012, which is a growth of 3.3 percent over the same period in 2011. The company says growth is relatively lower primarily due to the continuing economic slowdown and negative performance of the automotive segment.

Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at ? 279.1 crore for the third quarter, accounting for a decline of 31.2 percent as compared to the same period of 2011. This fall was largely due to higher material cost caused by adverse exchange rate movement and an increase in depreciation on account of higher capital base. Profit After Tax (PAT) at ? 202.8 crore also saw a corresponding decline of 29.6 percent over the same period last year.

The Starter and Generator division posted impressive growth of 52.6 percent, as compared to the same period of 2011, on the back of higher sales from new base line generators to both local and export customers.

The Diesel Systems’ division business fell by 5.0 percent. Domestic sales grew 4.1 percent, despite negative growth in the heavy commercial vehicle and tractor segments in the third quarter of 2012. However, the growth in domestic sales was offset by a sharper decline in the export segment due to the economic slowdown in European markets.

Bosch Ltd says the sluggishness of the overall economic situation has impacted its high- performing divisions of Power Tools and the Automotive Aftermarket which posted a moderate growth of 6.5 percent, and 9.5 percent respectively. Security technology posted a healthy growth due to major projects executed in both public address and video system products.

Overall, the net sales and income from operations grew by 6.7 percent in the nine months of 2012. The company posted net sales and income from operations of ? 6,455.1 crore in the nine months. PBT fell by 9.1 percent at ? 1,101.2 crore, compared to the nine months of 2011.

Commenting on the company’s financial results, V K Viswanathan, ,managing director, Bosch Ltd, said: “The sharp slowdown in the commercial vehicle and tractor segments in the domestic market and weak business conditions in Europe took a toll on the company’s performance. However, there are some signals that the worst is over, given the marginal recovery seen in recent weeks. We anticipate that the automotive market will get a boost from the festive season sales demand. We are therefore cautiously optimistic about the near term future and are hopeful that our investments in technology, capacity expansion, marketing and sales network will start paying off in the medium term.”