Telco was the subject of buying interest on Thursday as the market expects monthly sales figures to come in impressive.

By 12:55 IST, the scrip of India's largest commercial vehicles maker gained 1.89% to Rs 161.50. Over 480,000 Telco shares were exchanged on BSE by then. In the six sessions between 28 January and 5 February 2003, Telco rose 6.4% to Rs 158.50 from Rs 149.

January 2003 is expected to be a good month for the company as far as sales numbers go. The company's newly launched car Indigo, has topped in the ‘C' segment, by recording sales of 2,146 units in January 2003. Overall, sales of the company's cars and commercial vehicles should figure better than expectations, feel analysts. According to reports, the company has a four-six week wait list for the Indigo that set the segment buzzing with its competitive pricing at Rs 435,000. The Indigo was launched in December 2002.

Telco is expected to record further growth in the coming months due to the government's thrust on infrastructure projects, the boom in the replacement market and the shift in consumer preference from one- and two-axle vehicles to multiple-axle vehicles (in which Telco holds No. 1 position). Besides, the company has resorted to aggressive cost-cutting and financial restructuring.

The company's market share in the medium and heavy commercial vehicles segment is at 68.2%, the highest mark over the last three years. Given the trend of strong industry growth and market share acquisition by the company with the EX-series of vehicles, Telco expects to end FY 2002-03 with a CV growth rate of around 25% against earlier expectations of 15-18%. However, the company has maintained its passenger vehicle (cars and MUVs) domestic volume estimate of around 1,00,000 for the fiscal.

For the nine-month period ended December 2002, Telco recorded sales of 1,42,024 units, 25.3% higher than the 1,13,337 vehicles sold in the corresponding period last year.

For Q3 ended 31 December 2002, the Tata group automobile major posted an impressive net profit of Rs 75.71 crore on sales of Rs 2,193.44 crore (Rs 21.93 billion).

As on 30 September 2002, the promoters held 32.2% stake in Telco, while foreign institutions, the public and local institutions held 20%, 16.3% and 21.2%, respectively.

BSE Code: 500570