Apollo Tyres Q3 net profit up 51% helped by soft rubber prices

Apollo Tyres reported a sharp rise in net profit for the third quarter ended December 2015, even though its consolidated revenues fell 3.53 percent.

Net profit was Rs 278.50 crore, up 51.19 percent from Rs 184.2 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal, while revenues declined 3.53 percent to Rs 2,942.60 crore from Rs 3,050.50 crore on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, according to the company's regulatory filing with the stock exchanges on Tuesday.

For the previous quarter, the company had reported a 10.4 percent YoY decline in revenues at Rs 2,996 crore, while net profit was up 8 percent at Rs 278.74 crore.

The Apollo Tyres stock closed 10.70 percent higher at Rs 149.50 on the BSE on Wednesday. 

Earlier, MRF saw its December 2015 quarter net profit rise 20 percent to Rs 388 crore from Rs 323 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total income from operations was down 2.77 percent to Rs 3,260.90 crore from Rs 3,353 crore in the year-ago period, according to the company's regulatory filing to the exchanges.

The Chennai-based company posted 45.4 percent rise in net profit at Rs 460.73 crore for the quarter ended September 2015, up from Rs 316.91 crore during the corresponding period last year, even as sales fell about 6 percent to Rs 3,327.21 crore from Rs 3,548.4 crore.

Tyre companies in India are taking a hit on their sales due to cheap imports from China, though their profit margins are rising due to a decline in rubber prices.

"The Indian tyre sector continues to face the heat from cheaper Chinese imports that have flooded the Indian market in the TBR segment, which can be partially responsible for the flat top-line number," said Milan Desai, Research Analyst, Mid-Caps, Angel Broking, after the second quarter results of tyre companies.

However, cheaper raw material costs have effectively offset the impact of Chinese imports. "Softer raw material prices, which came down in the later two months of the past quarter, aided in EBITDA margin expansion," he added. 

RPG Group company Ceat will be declaring its December quarter results on 12 February. The stock closed at Rs 948.50, up 4.68 percent from its previous close. The stock has appreciated by about 30 percent in the past 52 weeks.