Runner’s two-wheeler business back in profits, yet to regain all

Runner Automobiles Ltd has posted profits in the October-December quarter for both its business segments – passenger and commercial vehicles.

In the previous quarter, 41 of the 92 days were lost to Covid-19 lockdowns and the company's two-wheeler and three-wheeler business absorbed losses as passenger vehicles were not allowed to run or be sold amid the restrictions.

Since the October-December quarter saw no lockdowns, the company's passenger segment business recovered. It earned more revenue compared to the same quarter of the previous year and higher than the previous quarter.

But, the hikes in costs of raw material and freight charges did not allow the company to bag a higher year-on-year profit in line with the revenue recovery in its businesses of manufacturing or assembling or merely distributing Runner, Vespa, Aprilia, UM and KTM branded two-wheelers and Bajaj branded three-wheelers.

The mother company Runner Automobiles Ltd, which runs the businesses of the passenger segment, posted earnings per share (EPS) of Tk0.28 in the October-December quarter, against Tk0.54 over the same period of 2020, while its loss per share was Tk0.1 in the July-September quarter this fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Runner continues its profitable Eicher branded commercial vehicle distribution business handled by its subsidiary Runner Motors Ltd.

Despite a slight year-on-year decline in turnover in the October-December quarter, Runner Motors profits grew compared to the previous quarter and the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Finally, the publicly listed automobile company's consolidated EPS, which includes figures of all subsidiary companies, grew to Tk0.96 in the October-December quarter from Tk0.88 in the corresponding period of 2020 and Tk0.53 in the July-September quarter this year.

But the second quarter's recovery was not enough to offset the dent of the first quarter.

Over the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal year, Runner's consolidated EPS stood at Tk1.49, still less than the same of Tk1.65 in the July-December period of 2021 when there had been no lockdowns.

The company's consolidated net asset value per share stood at Tk65.65 at the end of December.

For fiscal 2020-21, it declared 10% cash dividends as its annual consolidated EPS grew to Tk2.7 from the previous fiscal's Tk1.97.

Runner shares closed 1.1% lower at Tk52.8 on Monday at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The stock reached over Tk114 in mid-2019 following the company's debut a few weeks earlier and had dropped to Tk39 in March 2020 on the Covid-19 panic.