GURGAON, India—Apollo Tyres Ltd. notched up higher sales and profits in the three months ending Dec. 31, but it's concerned about the impact of rising natural rubber prices in the months to come, the Indian tire company reported Feb 1.
In its fiscal third quarter, the tire maker registered a 17 percent rise in net sales to $511 million, with operating profit showing a 3 percent rise $77 million. Net profit was up 6 percent at $74 million.
The positive figures, said Apollo, were achieved despite unfavourable external factors in the last few months.
"While, uncertainty around GST (goods and services tax) in India adversely impacted the commercial vehicle segment, the passenger vehicle segment witnessed good growth," said chairman Onkar Kanwar.
European operations, Kanwar added, grew both in revenue and volume terms, and faster than the industry.
"Having said that, the increasing rubber and other raw material prices in the last few months would be a challenge for us, and the industry, going forward," he cautioned.
In the nine months to the end of December, Apollo posted a 12 percent rise in sales to $1.5 billion, while operating profit showed a slight improvement at $235.02 million compared to $231 million for the same period in 2015.