Shares of Ashok Leyland started off in the black on Friday but slipped into red territory after the company posted a mixed bag of numbers for the second quarter.

What Happened: The commercial vehicles manufacturer reported a 181% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit, reaching ₹561 crore for the quarter ended September, compared with the ₹199 crore in net profit that it earned last year. The numbers missed street estimates by a small margin.

Revenue from operations went up, rising by 16.6% to ₹9,638 crore in the quarter, up from ₹8,266 crore that it made last year.

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However, sequentially, the net profit saw a marginal decline of 3% from the previous quarter’s ₹576 crore.

The EBITDA for the quarter stood at ₹1,080 crore, representing an 11.2% margin, compared to ₹537 crore with a 6.5% margin in the second quarter. The net debt at the end of the quarter stood at ₹1,139 crore.

"We continue to see strong demand in all segments of trucks and passenger vehicles. The industry continues to post strong growth, on the back of strong macroeconomic factors, and we are confident that FY' 24 will see further growth in the second half as well,” said Dheeraj Hinduja, executive chairman of Ashok Leyland.

In terms of vehicle volumes, Ashok Leyland’s domestic medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) witnessed a robust growth of 18%, reaching 29,947 units. Light commercial vehicle (LCV) volumes remained steady at 16,998 units. Export volumes for the quarter, including MHCV and LCV, recorded a 4% increase at 2,901 units despite global socio-political challenges.

“The second half of the year appears to have the twin tailwinds of demand growth and softer commodity prices which should improve the profitability of the industry,” said Shenu Agarwal, managing director and CEO of Ashok Leyland.

Price Action: Ashok Leyland’s share price was down 0.65% at ₹169.30 around the start of trade on Friday.

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