Telco pounded up the indices in early trades on Tuesday and much of the vigour came from the 24.3% rise in overall sales for January 2003 recorded by the company.

By 10:00 IST, in fact, the scrip of India's largest commercial vehicles maker advanced 1.18% to Rs 162.95. A total of 13,067 Telco shares changed hands on BSE by then.

Today's gains contrasted with a loss for the counter yesterday, when it ended lower by 1.65% to Rs 161.05. In the eight prior sessions between 28 January and 7 February 2003, Telco rose 9.89% to Rs 163.75 from Rs 149.

On Monday, after market hours, Telco said it witnessed a 24.3% rise in total sales to 24,116 units. Sales for the first ten months (April-January 2003) were 1,71,196 units, 22.6% higher than the corresponding period of the previous year. Meanwhile, month-on-month, sales spurted 53.7%.

The company sold 11,270 trucks and buses and 12,846 utility vehicles and cars in January 2003.

Analysts feel passenger car sales for January 2003 proved better than expected. But commercial vehicle sales growth seems to be tapering down. The newly launched car, Indigo, sold 2,146 units in the first full month of launch to become the largest selling car in the C segment. Indica bounced back sharply on a month-on-month basis (nearly doubling sales).

The UV division has built on the turnaround witnessed in domestic sales in December 2002. Even though M&HCV sales growth rate is tapering, it is more than sufficient to meet the company's guidance of 25% growth for the same division for the full year.

Meanwhile, Indigo's January 2003 sales stood at 2,146 units, which the company said represented a 27% market share in the mid-size segment, ahead of 10 competitors. According to reports, the company has a four-six week wait list for the Indigo, competitively priced 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 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