New Delhi: India's second largest commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd plans to cut its capital expenditure for fiscal 2012-13 to Rs 4.5 billion against Rs 6 billion planned previously in view of weak market conditions, Chief Financial Officer K Sridharan said.
"We are again taking a look at our overall capex and investment plans. Obviously, we would like to conserve cash. And, from that point of view, we gave a capex guidance of around Rs 600 crore and we are looking at it again to see how we can contain it to below Rs 450 crore," he said in a conference call Wednesday.
He also said that the company has slashed the production guidance at Pantnagar unit to 30,000 units from 40,000 units due to slower demand.
Meanwhile, the company, a part of the Hinduja Group, also got the shareholders' nod to raise Rs 16.50 billion in the current fiscal to fund its capital expenditure plans.
"Around Rs 1,650 crore. Like I was saying earlier, it is for both the capex and other joint ventures," Hinduja Group Chairman Dheeraj G Hinduja told reporters after the Annual General Meeting on July 24.
The company's fiscal first quarter (Apr-Jun) net profit fell 22.4% to Rs 669.36 million from Rs 862.53 million in the year-ago period, on account of higher finance costs and foreign exchange losses.
Shares of the vehicle maker Thursday were trading at Rs 21.8, down 3,33%, at 1:36 pm on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Copyright Contify.com
