KARACHI: The profit of Indus Motors Company Limited (INDU) recorded an increase of 42 per cent to Rs5.11 billion translating into the earnings per share (EPS) of Rs65.11 during the third quarter of fiscal year 2022.

The upsurge in the profit is primarily driven by higher other income, up 122 per cent on a year-on-year basis and higher sales revenue which were up 32 per cent.

This took earnings during the first nine months of fiscal year 2022 earnings to Rs15.29 billion (EPS: Rs194.56), up 82 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Alongside the result, the company declared an interim cash dividend of Rs26/share bringing the first nine months of fiscal year dividends per share (DPS) to R90.50 as compared with the DPS of Rs67 during the same period of last year.

The net sales grew to Rs68.22 billion during the quarter, up 32 per cent amid a series of upward revisions in car prices together with higher volumetric sales, up 11.9 per cent.

On a sequential basis, the sales declined 2 per cent on quarterly basis due to subdued production during the period owing to some maintenance work. This took the first nine months’ sales revenue to Rs203.4 billion, up 55 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

“Indus Motors’ gross margins stood at 7.67 per cent during the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, down 154 bps amid relatively higher cost pressure mainly freight cost and steel prices together with significant rupee devaluation during the quarter,” Mah e Rukh Fatima at Arif Habib Limited said.

This took margins to 8.64 per cent during the first nine months of fiscal year 2022, up 44bps given the passed on prices has largely absorbed the impact of rising cost pressure.

Other income depicted a substantial growth of 2.2x on a year-on-year basis during the third quarter, mainly driven by higher advances from customers and elevated interest rates.

The company booked effective taxation at 28 per cent during the quarter under review, similar to that during the same period of last year.