BENGALURU, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Shares of India’s Bajaj Auto (BAJA.NS) sunk as a lot as 5.05% on Monday after a media report mentioned the two-wheeler maker is predicted to take a reduce of as much as 25% in bike and three-wheeler manufacturing throughout its export-focused crops subsequent month.

The inventory fell to three,655.35 rupees, its lowest since Jan. 24.

Bajaj Auto didn’t reply instantly to Reuters’ request for touch upon the Economic Times (ET) report, which mentioned that the reduce would replicate stress in Nigeria, its largest export market.

“Our largest market, Nigeria, will continue to be depressed and volatile till the elections get over in February-end,” Executive Director Rakesh Sharma mentioned in an earnings name in January.

Nigeria’s electoral fee started asserting outcomes from its nationwide elections amid complaints of irregularities, with its presidential vote anticipated to be the closest within the nation’s historical past.

Bajaj Auto is prone to produce 250,000-270,000 items in March, ET reported, citing a number of individuals conscious of the manufacturing plans. That’s decrease than its common month-to-month manufacturing of 338,000 items within the first 9 months of FY 2023, the report added.
The report didn’t specify what number of items every of the two- and three-wheelers Bajaj Auto was prone to produce.

The firm’s whole export volumes dropped within the December quarter to 439,088 items from 658,062 items in the identical interval a 12 months earlier.

Company executives, within the January earnings name, pointed to a decline in customers’ buying energy as a result of across-the-board inflation, with the weak spot extra pronounced in South Asia and Africa.

Bajaj Auto’s shares have been final down 4.9%. They had risen 11.3% in 2022, towards a 15.31% rise within the Nifty auto index (.NIFTYAUTO).

Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Janane Venkatraman

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