Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) has reported a net loss of \u20b9389 crore for the first quarter ended June, against a net profit of \u20b9230 crore in the year-earlier period, following the COVID-19-led lockdown.<\/p>\n
Revenue plunged to \u20b9651 crore against \u20b95,684 crore. The results included a one-time exceptional item of \u20b91.67 crore relating to discontinued products of the LCV division.<\/p>\n
With virtually no operations or revenues in the first part of this quarter owing to the lock down, the demand is seen to be gradually opening up as the lock down is being eased, the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the pandemic hitting us, this has been one of the most challenging quarters for the industry,\u201d said Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw a significant decline in volume, affecting the financial performance of the company adversely.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr. Sondhi said that despite the challenging times, ALL went ahead and launched the unique Modular Business Platform \u2018AVTR\u2019. \u201cWe have already rolled out over 2,000 of these vehicles till date this year and together with our LCV range we have already rolled out 10,000 BS6 vehicles. This is indeed a very encouraging sign for the quarters to follow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exceptional quarter not just for the industry but also for the entire economy. We have used this time to drive disruptive cost efficiencies and productivity measures. The focus was also on maintaining liquidity, not just of the company but also our dealers and vendors. There have been tremendous learnings for us in doing business efficiently without dropping the ball on growth initiatives. We will come out of this much stronger,\u201d said Gopal Mahadevan, whole time director and chief financial officer, ALL. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n