JK Tyre bullish on demand, hikes price by 6-7% to offset raw material impact

Optimistic about demand growth in the current fiscal, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd on Thursday said it has increased price by 6-7 per cent and a further hike is under consideration to reduce the raw material cost pressure.

The leading tyre maker said EBITA has started improving and it is likely to be better in the forthcoming quarters.

"On an average, the cost input impact on the company due to the unprecedented commodity price inflation was around 30-35 per cent over the last 18 months. We have taken consistent price hikes in the last fiscal and even in this fiscal further price increase to the tune of 6-7 per cent has been done, JK Tyre president (India) Anuj Kathuria said.

However, the company has not been able to pass on the entire cost increase and further price hikes are under consideration, he said on the sidelines of the launch of two new tyres for the truck and bus radial segments.

"EBITA is improving and it is expected to get better in the subsequent quarters with the price hike, cost control and growth in volume," he said without giving any timeline as to when the company will be able to neutralise the entire cost impact.

JK Tyre has reported a 20 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 35.13 crore in the first quarter ended June, impacted by higher expenses on raw materials.

The company said it expects the truck, bus and passenger car radial tyres market (in value terms) will grow by 20-25 per cent in the current fiscal.

JK Tyre is implementing a capex of Rs 1100 crore to ramp up its capacity by about 10 per cent from 32 million tyres per annum through brownfield expansions and debottlenecking in the next 12-18 months.

The company is conceptualising some plans on how it can get closer to the customers which the company declined to disclose.