Hero Honda Q4 net jumps 53 pct, beats f'cast

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's top motorbike maker, Hero Honda Motors, on Thursday reported a better-than-expected 53 percent rise in quarterly net profit, as higher sales of premium bikes helped offset firm interest rates and pricey raw materials.

Hero Honda, in which India's Hero Group and Japan's Honda Motor Co each hold 26 percent, has about half the Indian market for bikes, the world's biggest after China.

New Delhi-based Hero Honda said net profit rose to 2.99 billion rupees ($75 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter to end-March from 1.95 billion a year earlier.

Net sales rose to 27.89 billion rupees from 26.40 billion.

That beat a Reuters poll forecast of a net profit of 2.51 billion rupees on net sales of 27.36 billion.

"We have focused on all-round efficiency improvement ... several cost rationalisation initiatives were also taken," Managing Director Pawan Munjal said in a statement, adding that they expected to maintain growth through new launches in 2008/09.

"However, for the industry as a whole, the steadily rising input costs remain a concern. For more than a year, the industry has also been reeling under very high interest costs and lack of consumer finance," he said.

Indian bike makers rolled out 7.2 million bikes and scooters in 2007/08, down nearly 8 percent from a year earlier, as firm interest rates depressed demand after banks tightened credit.

Hero Honda sold 884,075 bikes and scooters in the March quarter, up 7 percent from a year ago. It sold 3.34 million bikes and scooters in 2007/08, nearly the same as the previous year.