Not a good day for auto ancillary companies at the markets today

Amtek Auto Ltd, a mid-sized auto ancillary company, fell to 5-month lows after it swung to a quarterly loss on the back of a slowdown in sales and surging financing costs.

Amtek said it had a loss of 236.5 crore rupees in its third quarter compared with a profit of 114.7 crore rupees in the same period a year ago. Sales during April-June fell 18 percent to 866.3 crore rupees compared with 1064.4 crore rupees. Amtek said its financing costs nearly doubled to 157.6 crore rupees versus 86.1 crore rupees.

Amtek fell 18.90 rupees, or 13 percent, to 131.25 rupees, its lowest since March 25, on the NSE where 51 lakh shares were traded compared with its 5-day average of 17.9 lakh shares.

Amtek has seen its market capitalisation fall 45 percent to 2,845 crore rupees in the past one year as its strategy to boost sales via acquisitions slipped. The stock trades 0.5 times book value of 234.8 rupees.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)