CHENNAI, India — Apollo Tyres Ltd.'s sales and earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31 declined slightly, dragged down by a pandemic-influenced fourth quarter sales drop of 15%.
Fiscal 2019-20 operating profit declined 1.6% to $276 million on 6.8% lower sales of $2.27 billion, Apollo said, citing lower business in the domestic original equipment sector as a contributing factor. Net income was $67 million.
Apollo Chairman Onkar Kanwar lauded his company's workers for showing "great resilience and adaptability in this difficult situation" and noted that the company has taken a variety of actions to protect its employees and "ensure business continuity under these circumstances."
"With lockdowns easing," he added, "demand has started picking up gradually across product and market segments, giving us some relief."
The company's Indian operations experienced replacement market growth for the full year in most product categories, Apollo said, but the OE segment "remained under pressure" for the full year despite some signs of improvement in the fourth quarter.
Sales in India, Asia and Africa fell 10.4% to $1.58 billion.
Apollo's European operations also saw growth in "some of the product segments" for the full year; sales in the region remained flat at $733 million for the year.
Sales in Apollo's "other" region — which includes North America — fell 28% to $363 million, but the company did not comment specifically on its operations in these areas.
Apollo halted production at its four tire plants in India and two European sites in late March and resumed partial manufacturing at the facilities by 25 April.
In the firm's fourth quarter (period ended March 31), Apollo's sales fell to $493 million.