GAZ automobile group swings to 1.1 bln rubles IFRS profit in H1
MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax) - The GAZ automobile group had net profit of 1.1 billion rubles audited to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in H1 2017, compared with losses of 2.4 billion rubles for the same period of last year, the company said in a report.
Sales revenue grew 15.6% year-on-year to 67.373 billion rubles.
The improvement was due to higher sales of the Next family of LCVs and to cost cutting, which the company continues to carry out against the backdrop of macroeconomic factors affecting the market situation and production costs.
Revenue grew amid a 29% increase in sales of GAZelle Next and GAZon Next vehicles on the Russian market. Sales of all bus classes and versions were up 22%, GAZ said, without providing absolute figures. Revenue per employee increased 11% to 257,000 rubles per month.
"The high cost of borrowing, costs for materials and energy resources, low customer purchasing power on the commercial transport market do not facilitate positive economic dynamics. Nonetheless, in these conditions, GAZ management and staff once more succeeded in marshaling company resources and achieved significant results. In the first half of the year, we achieved a cost-cutting effect at the level 1.7 billion rubles," GAZ President Vadim Sorokin is quoted in the report as saying, adding that the company is working to develop new models and technology.
GAZ is working on expanding the product lineup in several areas at once: to increase the cargo capacity of LCVs and medium-tonnage trucks, create right hand drive models and other export modifications, develop electric passenger vehicles and create new vehicles with improved off-road performance. The entry of these vehicles onto the market will enable the company to reach new segments of the Russian market and expand its presence on export markets, Sorokin said.