Pune: Mahindra and Mahindra, India’s biggest utility vehicle maker, on Friday reported a 26.5 per cent drop in quarterly net profit as the company struggled to sell cars, trucks and tractors amid a slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The Mumbai-headquartered company’s September quarter net profit stood at Rs 1,355 crore against Rs 1,778.8 crore in a year-ago period.

However, the maker of popular model such as Bolero and Scorpio beat the beat analysts’ average estimate for a profit of Rs 1,150 crore, according to Refinitiv data.

Its revenue was down 14.5 per cent at Rs 10,935 crore compared to Rs 12,790 crore last year.

The tax expense for the quarter stood at Rs 403.4 crore as against Rs 519.4 crore incurred in the previous year.

The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was down 16.7 per cent at Rs 1,541 crore as against Rs 1,849.3 crore while the Ebitda margin was down marginally at 14.1 per cent.

Its automotive business revenue fell 18.4 per cent at Rs 6,892.8 crore while the EBIT margin was down at 5.8 per cent year-on-year.

Mahindra’s farm equipment business also revenue declined 9.8 per cent at Rs 3,631.5 crore compared with Rs 4,028 crore last year, and the EBIT was down 13.7 per cent at Rs 702 crore as against Rs 803 crore year-on-year.

The company sold 1.10 lakh vehicles in Q2 FY20, lower by 21 per cent from 1.41 lakh units in Q2 FY19.