India's largest motorcycle maker, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, said on Thursday its quarterly net profit fell 2.6 per cent as an industry boom tapered off and competition heated up.
The company, in which India's Munjal family and Japan's Honda Motor Co each hold a 26 per cent stake, said its net profit was Rs 149 crore (Rs 1.49 billion) in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, slightly higher than expected.
That compared with a profit of Rs 153 crore (Rs 1.53 billion) in the year-ago period.
Net sales dropped 3.3 per cent to Rs 1,215 crore (Rs 12.15 billion).
A Reuters poll of nine brokerages had forecast the company would report net profit fell 12.9 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 133 crore (Rs 1.33 billion) and net sales dropped 3.4 per cent to Rs 1,215 crore (Rs 12.13 billion).
The automaker also announced it would pay a total dividend of Rs 18 a share, lower than market expectations of Rs 20 per share. The 18-rupee dividend brings the yield to 9.5 per cent.
Hero Honda, which still has a dominant 45 per cent share of the domestic motorcycle market, was hurt by slowing demand after two consecutive years of 30 per cent-plus growth and the launch of new models by rivals in the world's No 2 motorcycle market.
