7:30PM Mumbai - Bajaj Auto net profit rises 2% from a year ago.

Quarterly Earnings Review:

Bajaj Auto reported a 1% rise in sales from 2,568 crore rupees reported a year earlier to 2,600 crore rupees in the third quarter ended December 31, 2007 .

In the quarter, operating profit surged 9% to 380 crore rupees from 351 crore rupees in the prior period.

Net profit climbed 2% from 344 crore rupees a year ago to 350 crore rupees in the latest three months.

Earnings per share plunged from 34 rupees per share during the December 31 2006 third quarter to 32 rupees in the period under review.

Nine-Month Earnings Review

In the nine months, earning per share fell from 136,4 rupees per share to 129,2 rupees.

Export maintained growth in the nine months as volumes surged to 460,282 units from 442,411 units last year.

Bajaj Auto said volumes fell by 3.4% in the fist nine months, marking the company’s third successive quarter of volume declines.

Outlook

The management said 3-Wheeler sales are expected to improve hereon in both domestic and export markets.

Furthermore, exports are expected to continue growing at the 40% rate that they have had this year. Some export sales were deferred from January 8th to February 8th due to logistics issues.