Anand Mahindra appointed M&M's Executive Chairman

Mumbai, Nov 11 (IANS) Automobile major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) on Friday said it has appointed Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra as Executive Chairman of the company. The automobile manufacturer also announced the appointment of Pawan Goenka as Managing Director of the company. As regard to the company's quarterly results, which was also released on Friday, it reported a rise

of 27.08 per cent in its standalone net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal. According to the company, its Q2 standalone net profit stood at Rs 1,163.27 crore -- up from Rs 915.38 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. The company informed the BSE in a regulatory filing that its total income during the quarter under review increased by 16.98 per cent to Rs 12,071.13 crore from Rs 10,318.43 crore earned during the corresponding period of last fiscal. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit after tax rose by 28.77 per cent to Rs 1,252.92 crore from Rs 972.99 crore during the quarter under review. Total income from operations of the company showed a rise of 15.56 per cent to Rs 10,171.79 crore in Q2, from Rs 8,801.86 crore in the corresponding period of last year. The company in its outlook said abundant and well spread monsoon will help revive farm income and push up private consumption. "Higher crop output will help improve spends on agri-inputs and services. Moreover, prices of key agricultural inputs have stabilized which signal that farmer balance sheets are on the mend now and this will help revive the overall rural economy," the company said in a statement. × "Importantly, there is discernible traction on reforms including GST (Goods and Services Tax) which augurs well for India's growth trajectory." The company added that there are signs of demand recovery manifesting through broader consumption pick-up in growth rates in automobile sales, air passenger traffic and retail loans. "The Seventh Pay Commission and the OROP scheme award has put money in the pockets of government employees and pensioners which will further help demand," the statement said. "The lag effects of interest rate cuts by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) along with the increased transmission of lower interest rates will also be supportive of consumption."