Aug 4 (Reuters) - India's Ather Energy reported a narrower first-quarter loss on Monday, helped by higher demand for its e-scooters, particularly the best-selling Rizta, sending its shares to an all-time high.
The company, founded in 2013, said its loss narrowed to 1.78 billion rupees ($20.3 million) for the quarter ended June 30 from 1.83 billion rupees a year ago.
Ather's sales jumped nearly three-fold year-on-year in the first quarter, according to government registration data.
This is the second consecutive quarter that the Hero MotoCorp-backed company has reported a narrower quarterly loss since listing in May.
Ather began selling electric scooters in 2018, becoming one of the pioneers in India’s electric vehicle space, but has since fallen behind Ola Electric and traditional competitors with deeper pockets and wider distribution networks.
In June, Ather announced plans to expand its retail footprint to 700 centres across India by the end of fiscal year 2026, aiming to boost its presence in the northern parts of the country, driven by the strong performance of its family-focused Rizta, which makes up nearly 60% of total sales.
The company had flagged in the last earnings call that markets outside southern India could be an important driver for growth in the coming quarters.
Ather's revenue from operations rose 78.8% on-year to 6.45 billion rupees, while total expenses increased 54.4%, led by a 62% jump in the cost of materials consumed.
Rival Ola Electric posted a narrower sequential loss for the first quarter, helped by stronger sales.
Ather's shares rose as much as 13.5% to a record high of 394 rupees on Monday after its quarterly results. They were last up 11.3%.
($1 = 87.6320 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema
Source: Reuters