Ashok Leyland will be listing its vehicle finance unit, Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLF), on the stock exchange via a reverse merger with NXTDigital, a listed media company of the Hinduja Group, in the current financial year as the company seeks to unlock the true potential of business for its investors, Dheeraj Hinduja, chairman Ashok Leyland told ET.
“It (HLF) is getting reverse merged and hopefully during this financial year, the company should get listed. I believe this will be a good way of unlocking the value because the true value of Leyland Finance is not getting reflected in the Ashok Leyland share prices,” he said. The Hinduja group entities held 74.8% (excluding employee stock options) in HLF as on December 31, 2023, with Ashok Leyland – the primary shareholder holding 60.4%.
The merger will make HLF an NBFC, said KM Balaji, chief financial officer, Ashok Leyland. The current book value of HLF is Rs 3,200 crore-based on Ashok Leyland’s holding rate of Rs 60 per share in the balance sheet but when it gets listed, it could be much higher, he said.
Ashok Leyland Net Falls 8.7% to Rs 526 cr
Ashok Leyland reported a strong operational performance as the company’s truck and bus sales surged to a record high of 43,893 units against 41,329 units boosting its revenue to Rs 8,599 crore from Rs 8,189 crore. The company’s net profit during the three-month period however, slipped 8.7% to Rs 525.58 crore from Rs 576.42 crore in the corresponding quarter last year owing to an impact of last year’s deferred tax liability.
