Demonetisation and ban on BS-III norms from April has really hit hard the country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp on Wednesday reported decline of 14 per cent in its consolidated net profit at ₹717.75 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, as compared with ₹ 833.29 crore in corresponding period last year.

The decline in sales for the consecutive months also hit its consolidated total income by more than 7 per cent in January-March period to ₹7,606.31 crore as against ₹8,227.93 crore in the same period last year.

The company sold 16.22 lakh units of two-wheelers during the period, down 6 per cent as compared with a little more than 17.21 lakh units in January-March quarter 2016, the company said.

However, annually, the company has recorded growth in both net profit and total income as compared to fiscal year 2015-16.

"During the fiscal, Hero surpassed the landmark 70 million sales in cumulative sales since its inception -- a reflection of sustained popularity of Hero products among customers," Pawan Munjal Chairman, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp said.

Going forward, he said the company has planned a capex of ₹2,500 crore up to fiscal year 2019 towards new product development, digitisation, phase-wise capacity installations and expansion at its existing facility in Gujarat and upcoming plants at Andhra Pradesh and Bangladesh.

The capex also includes investments towards upgradation and modernisation of plant machinery, he said.

"With all these initiatives, we will further consolidate our leadership in fiscal year 2018, without compromising on the bottomline and our margins through judicious utilisation of our resources and rationalisation of costs," Munjal added.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp closed at ₹3,322.40 on the BSE on Wednesday, up 0.99 per cent from the previous close.

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