Ashok Leyland shares fall 7% from the highs after March sales miss expectations

Shares of Ashok Leyland Ltd., the Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle producer, fell as much as 7% from the highs of the day to trade with losses on Wednesday, April 1, after its sales for the month of March missed expectations.

Overall vehicle sales for Ashok Leyland grew by 5% in March to 25,381 units, from 24,060 units it reported during the same period last year.
A CNBC-TV18 poll had projected the sales to grow by 15% from the same period last year to 27,750 units.
Ashok Leyland’s M&HCV truck sales for March grew by 11% from last year to 14,470 units, while bus sales were down 24% year-on-year to 3,048 units.

The growth in the truck segment is lower than the three-month average of 37%, while the LCV segment growth was also lower than the three-month average of 25%. The bus segment decline of 34% was also the highest in many months.

Total M&HCV sales grew 3% year-on-year to 17,518 units. LCV sales were up 12% in March to 7,863 units.

After reporting strong numbers for the last few months, Ashok Leyland shares had surged to 52-week high levels in February this year, even crossing the mark of 200.

However, in the 31 trading sessions before Wednesday, the stock had cooled off nearly 30% from those levels before facing pressure at higher levels today as well.

Shares of Ashok Leyland shares are trading 1.5% lower on Wednesday, having cooled off from the highs of the day to trade at ₹151.75. The stock had made a 52-week high of ₹215.75 on February 11 this year.