Bosch net profit down by 7.7% in CY2013

Bosch Ltd has reported a decline in net profit by 7.7 percent at Rs 885 crore in CY2013, down from Rs 958 crore the year before.

Dr Steffen Berns, managing director of Bosch Ltd, said there are several reasons for the dip in net profit. Among others, he said, “Addition in asset, personal cost and rupee depreciation stood as major reasons for the profit fall in 2013.”  

Addressing media persons at Bosch’s headquarters in Bangalore today, he said the company’s net sales and income from operations for the year increased by 1.4 percent to Rs 8,641 crore.

“The prolonged slowdown of the automotive industry in 2013, coupled with weak consumer demand has impacted the overall industry as well as our growth. Our non-automotive business has been doing very well with its share increasing steadily as we continue to expand our operations in this sphere. Our cumulative measures on cost control throughout the year helped us to limit the decline in profitability despite the unutilised capacity.”

Dr Berns said the company has invested around Rs 500 crore in 2003 including its upcoming greenfield plant in Bidadi industrial estate near Bangalore and at its existing Adugodi facility in Bangalore city.

However, he remarked the company’s performance is better than the Indian automotive market last year. While the Indian automotive market declined by 3 percent on the production volume (without the 2-wheeler segment), Bosch’s automotive business registered a marginal decline of 0.7 percent.

The Diesel Systems business division was affected by the consistent decline in the domestic sales of commercial vehicles and passenger cars. However, the division retained its market share despite this extended slump, while sales of the Gasoline Systems division grew moderately, he added.

The non-automotive business grew by over 19 percent, reflecting the company’s efforts in this business area. Of the total turnover, the automotive business accounted for 87 percent while the remaining 13 percent came from the non-automotive business.

Bosch’s capital expenditure for 2014 is to be in the range of Rs 600 crore.