India's TVS Motor beats Q2 profit view led by entry-level motorbikes, EVs

By VarunVyas Hebbalalu

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian automobile maker TVS Motor reported a larger-than-expected rise in second-quarter profit on Monday, led by strong demand for its more affordable range of two-wheelers and electric vehicles.

The company's profit rose 31.7% to 5.27 billion rupees ($63.33 million) in the three months to Sept. 30 from a year earlier. Analysts on average estimated a profit of 5.25 billion rupees as per LSEG data.

"Offerings such as the Raider 125 motorcycle in the executive segment have helped the company increase its market share," said Jay Kale, vice president at Elara Capital, adding that chip-supply shortage-related production issues that hurt the company last year have been resolved.

TVS Motor's scooter and motorcycle sales rose 10% and 3%, respectively, during the quarter.

Domestic sales for TVS' executive segment - base model motorbikes and scooters priced around $650-$1,140 - increased over two-fold during the quarter, according to data from industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

TVS' electric vehicle sales also rose nearly 3.6 times from last year to 580,000 units. The company has the second-largest market share in the Indian electric two-wheeler space.

However, currency availability issues and macro-economic pressures in Africa, one of TVS Motor's largest international markets, have led to a drop in demand and hurt the company's exports, which fell more than 5% from a year earlier.

Earlier this month, larger rival Bajaj Auto reported sluggish revenue growth as it could not shake off weak rural demand for its two-wheelers.

Shares of TVS Motor closed more than 1% higher ahead of its results.

They have risen more than 48% so far this year, compared with an over 27% climb in the Nifty Auto index.

($1 = 83.2150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)