Ashok Leyland falls despite strong Nov sales

Ashok Leyland posted a strong set of sales figure for November’14. YoY, its total sales rose by a very good 44% and this was led mainly by a whopping 2% rise in medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales (M&HCV). Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) sales dropped 5%. The sales for April to Nov showed a 8% (YoY) rise in total sales, with M&HCV rising 17% and LCV falling 11%.

It is only profit booking which is currently taking the stock price because fundamentally it seems on a strong foot. The second largest truck maker of India posted a YoY turnaround for Q2FY15, with a net profit of Rs.121 crore compared to loss of Rs.25 crore in previous Q2. This turnaround was supported by a 26% rise in revenue at Rs.3218 crore. EBTIDA for the quarter was at 234 crore, giving a healthy margin of 7.27% v/s 2.21% last Q2. What also helped the turnaround was an asset sale which brought in Rs.109 crore’ But for this one-time gain, it would still have been a turnaround with a net profit at Rs.12 crore.

The stock is currently down 1.%% at Rs.52.90, closer to its intra day low at Rs.52.65.