Riding on strong tractor sales, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has posted a 9.3 per cent rise in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31. The country’s biggest utility vehicle-maker sold 76,362 tractors during the quarter, a 22.1 per cent rise over the year-ago period.

The company, together with subsidiary Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers Ltd (MVML), posted a net profit of ₹1,000.1 crore during the quarter under review. Together, the companies had posted a net profit of ₹915 crore during the year-ago period, M&M said in a statement.

During the reporting quarter, the gross revenue and other income of M&M and MVML fell to ₹11,270 crore from ₹11,522.3 crore a year ago.

The fall in the gross revenue is due to the challenging times the Indian auto industry is passing through with volumes shrinking by 11.7 per cent during the quarter, it said.

“M&M reported broadly in-line performance, driven by strong growth in the farm equipment segment, even though the automotive segment continued posting poor performance. The volume growth continues to be impacted due to the decline in the automotive segment (down 11.9 per cent year-on-year) amid higher competition in the utility vehicle segment,” said Yaresh Kothari, research analyst (auto and auto ancillary) at Angel Broking.

Due to a good monsoon, the domestic tractor industry posted a 20.6 per cent growth. The company’s domestic tractor sales grew 22.1 per cent to 76,362 units during the quarter, which helped it increase market share to 41.9 per cent from 41.4 per cent a year ago.

On a standalone basis, M&M’s net profit rose 11.7 per cent to ₹934.1 crore (₹836.2 crore), while gross revenue and other income fell to ₹11,295.1 crore (₹11,588.9 crore).

On Friday, M&M shares slipped 0.45 per cent to ₹902.60 on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex gained 0.86 per cent to 20,366.82.

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