India's Bajaj Auto Ltd. announced its net profit for the month of December quarter rose by 4.7% on last year's results.
The company said its surprising pickup in profits is due to its range of modern bikes and noted that the opening of the Iranian market helped its sales figures, according to LiveMint.
Net profit for the quarter stood at 9.014 billion rupees ($133 million) compared with 8.612 billion ($127 million) a year ago.
The company’s operating margin, a measure of profitability, widened to 22.1% in the December quarter from 21.7% a year ago. The Indian currency weakened to 66.15 rupees to a dollar on 31 December from 65.59 at the end of the preceding quarter.
However, this is good news for Iranian buyers of the bikes due to the low entry price of the vehicles.
Previously, Bajaj part owner of Austria's KTM motorbikes said they would be stepping up their presence in the Iranian market by entering their more high-end brand for Iranian buyers in conjunction with their local partner Kavir Motorcycles. The company added that other global markets like Nigeria, Colombia and Mexico also added to the uptick in sales.
