LAHORE -  Indus Motors Company Limited (IMC) held its Board of Directors (BoD) meeting here on Friday to review the company’s financial and operating performance for the six month period ending December 31, 2016.

Various gains resulting from improvements in production, procurement, distribution and administrative processes resulted in a marginal increase in the profit after tax by 3.3 percent to Rs6.1 billion, against Rs5.9 billion achieved for the half year ended December 2015. Based on the financial performance, the BoD declared an interim dividend of Rs25 per share (250pc) for the half year ended December 31, 2016, in addition to the first interim dividend paid at Rs25 per share.

Presenting the company’s performance, the newly appointed IMC CEO Ali Asghar Jamali explained that although demand for Toyota vehicles remained robust during the period, the sales of Toyota vehicles both locally manufactured and imported stood at 28,833 units, down 7 percent from the 30,896 units sold during the same period last year. Various factors, such as plant maintenance and up-gradation, pre-launch production related activities for the new Hilux and transport disruptions limited the company’s ability to meet the demand.

In order to offset the loss in production, the company continued to operate its manufacturing facility at full capacity, working daily overtime hours and off Saturdays. The total production at IMC stood at 28,996 units, down 5 percent from 30,474 units produced in the corresponding period last year, he added.

While commenting on the near term outlook, the BoD stressed on the need to revisit the valuation of used vehicles and auto parts by the government, as the concessionary duties and valuations put the local industry at disadvantage. The board also supported the request made by certain existing automakers to the government for facilitation of their future expansion and investment projects, citing investments as being beneficial to the country, either by a new entrant or an existing player.