Feb 2 (Reuters) - Indian e-scooter manufacturer Ather Energy's quarterly loss more than halved from a year earlier, helped by a jump in sales during the year-end festive period.
The Bengaluru-based company on Monday reported a loss of 846 million rupees ($9.2 million), compared to a loss of 1.98 billion rupees a year earlier.
Ather was an early entrant in India's electric two-wheeler market, with the launch of its 450 series of scooters in 2018, but has since lost ground to larger peers such as TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto, who have deeper pockets and wider distribution networks.
India's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp has a 30.14% stake in Ather.
Unlike TVS, Bajaj and Ola Electric, Ather only sells scooters priced at more than 100,000 rupees. This and cost controls have helped it narrow losses, the company said last year.
Ather has been expanding its presence in India's northern and central regions and seeks to raise its market share through its top-selling family scooter, Rizta. At the end of the December quarter, the company had 600 showrooms and plans to add another 100 by March end.
During the quarter, sales at Ather jumped 50% to a record 67,851 units, helping boost quarterly revenue by 50.2% to 9.54 billion rupees.
The revenue jump, combined with a 7% reduction in per-unit manufacturing cost, helped Ather's EBITDA margin improve to negative 3% from negative 19% a year before.
Ather's shares closed 3.1% lower on Monday, ahead of the results.
($1 = 91.5540 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala
Source: Reuters