India's Apollo Tyres Q4 profit falls on higher tax expenses

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's Apollo Tyres Ltd reported a lower profit for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, hurt by increased tax expenses.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Apollo Tyres, which manufactures tyres for Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra and TVS Motor Company Ltd among others, is one of the major players in the sector, which has a turnover of $11 billion.

CONTEXT

The Gurgaon,Haryana-based company recorded a deferred tax liability along with its tax expenses for the quarter, following up on a 2023 amendment to income tax laws.

Analysts have noted a significant surge in natural rubber prices during the quarter, a crucial raw material for the tyre industry.

Peers MRF and CEAT also saw a decline in their fourth-quarter profits.

BY THE NUMBERS

The tyremaker's consolidated profit fell 13.7% to 3.54 billion rupees ($42.39 million) from a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 4.5 billion rupees, per LSEG data.

The company's total tax expenses for the quarter increased almost 80% to 2.09 billion rupees.

Revenue from operations rose 0.17% to 62.58 billion rupees.

The company's total expenses fell 0.5%.

GRAPHIC

(Figures in percentage)

($1 = 83.5015 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)