Bajaj Auto had to turn downhill in morning trades on Thursday as the market was put off by the flat results turned out by the company and a poor export forecast.

The scrip of the two-wheeler major shed 0.96% to Rs 471.15 by 10:14 IST on Thursday, as a result. A total of 17,498 Bajaj Auto (BAL) shares changed hands on BSE by then.

BAL announced results towards close of trading Wednesday. For Q4 ended 31 March 2003, the company posted a 1.45% rise in net profit to Rs 150.61 crore against Rs 148.45 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales increased by 10% to Rs 1,236 crore from Rs 1,124.02 crore in MQ 2002.

Though flat, these results came in better than a capital market.com poll outcome for the company - a net profit of Rs 139-150 crore on net sales of Rs 1,037-1,166 crore.

For FY 2002-03, BAL recorded a net profit of Rs 538.40 crore (Rs 521.10 crore) on total turnover of Rs 5,070.50 crore (Rs 4,402.70 crore). The board has proposed a dividend of Rs 14 per share (140%).

BAL's total two- and three-wheeler sales grew by 6% to 14,45,773 units in 2002-03 compared to 13,58,980 units in 2001-2002. Specifically, motorcycle volumes rose 32% to 8,68,138 units from 6,56,018 units in 2001-2002. Overall exports jumped 113% to 94,241 units from 44,311 units.

But the sales forecast to Kawasaki for the current year is none too impressive. Market players had till now predicted that the company would sell around 10,000-12,000 motorcycles to Kawasaki every month. The company has now said that it will sell only 6,000 units to Kawasaki .

Analysts are worried that the current global slowdown may compel Bajaj Auto to lower its guidance for the year (30% growth in motorcycles) due to the global economic slowdown. Evenso, a decent 20-25% growth in motorcycles may still be expected from the company in the current fiscal.

For fiscal 2003-2004, the company is targeting a 12% growth in two-wheeler volumes to 1.4 million. Including three-wheelers, the company expects sales volumes to rise to 1.6 million during the fiscal. The company has projected a rise in exports from 94,241 units to 1,26,000 units during the period. Two-wheeler exports are expected to grow 50% to 78,000 units in the current fiscal.

BSE code: 500490