New Delhi : Setco Automotive Ltd., the largest manufacturer of clutches for Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) in India, announced its financial result for the quarter and half year ended September 30, 2018. Highlights of the best first half-year operating performance in the history for the company are as under:

                                                                                                                                                                (Amt in INR crs)

The company’s management maintains its sales growth guidance at ~35% for the year.

Harish Sheth, Chairman & Managing Director at Setco Automotive, said, “Strong economic fundamentals continue to drive the growth of the M&HCV segment. This growth trend is seen for the last 5 quarters in a row and the growth cycle is expected to continue for the next 3-4 years, driven by Government’s thrust in the rural sector and investment in infrastructure. All planned initiatives are on target to build on this strong start and deliver a superior top line and bottom-line performance by strong cost management and better efficiencies.”

Setco’s OEM business grew by ~65% compared to MHCV industry production growth of 57%. Post GST, a significant shift to the organized sector is accelerating with each passing quarter, and has delivered 48% growth in the company’s Aftermarket segment compared to the corresponding quarter. The growth improvement in International subsidiaries is noticed in last four quarters, which is expected to continue in foreseeable future with sustained improvement in EBITDA margins.

Lava Cast, the state-of-the-art casting business of Setco, saw a continuous ramp-up in capacity utilization with ~60% utilization in Q2FY19 vs ~47% in Q1FY19 and expected to hit capacity utilization of around 85% in H2FY19. It has already commenced supplies to external customers such as TATA Motors, Ashok Leyland and others. It has also received approval from Daimler for supply of castings.