Gabriel had a positive aura in early trades after the company said its profits rose over four-fold.

By 10:13 IST on BSE, the scrip of the auto ancillary had advanced by 1.91 per cent to Rs 80. In fact, the scrip managed volumes of 200 shares on BSE no sooner trading commenced. In the 52 sessions between 28 October 2002 and 13 January 2003, the scrip clambered up 66 per cent to Rs 78.50 from Rs 47.25.

On Monday, after market hours, Gabriel said that third quarter ended 31 December 2002 net profit stood at Rs 4.09 crore compared to Rs 0.98 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Total income increased 24.3 per cent to Rs 86.05 crore from Rs 69.24 crore in DQ 2001.

The improved performance by the company has been possible due to its strong presence in the original equipment manufacturer segment and due to the overall growth in automobiles, particularly motorcycles and new generation cars.

The company is expected to maintain a similar tempo in the current quarter (ending 31 March 2003) as well.

GIL's business prospects primarily depend on the domestic two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments, that account for 46 per cent of total revenues - 26 per cent coming from the passenger car segment, 20 per cent from commercial vehicles comprising HCVs and LCVs, the balance 8 per cent coming from the engine bearing segment.

In the two-wheeler segment, GIL is a 100 per cent vendor to TVS Motor for its 110cc Victor motorcycle and is an equally large vendor to Bajaj Auto, Yamaha Motors, LML and Royal Enfield. In the three-wheeler segment GIL supplies to both Bajaj Auto and Piaggio for their entire product range.

In the passenger car/MUV segment, GIL is a 100 per cent vendor to Ford India, Telco, Hyundai, Fiat, Toyota, Mahindra and is the second biggest vendor to Maruti Udyog after Munjal Showa Limited.

In the commercial vehicles category, GIL is a 100 per cent vendor to Eicher Motors, Swaraj Mazda, Hindustan Motors, Bajaj Tempo, with Ashok Leyland and Telco being major customers here.

Within this customer mix, Gabriel gets around 80 per cent of its revenues from the OEM segment, 16 per cent comes from after-market and the remaining 4 per cent is accounted for by exports.

GIL has six manufacturing facilities to manufacture ride control products (shocks, struts and front forks).

The Nashik, Hosur and Noida plants cater to the two- and three-wheeler market segment, the Chakan facility caters to the new generation passenger car segment, the Mulund facility in Mumbai caters to the requirements of the older passenger car models and Indian railways.

The Gurgaon plant specifically caters to Maruti's requirements and the Dewas plant takes care of the CV market demand.

For the future, growth is expected to come from the motorcycle segment. Despite the tough competition in the motorcycle segment, Gabriel is expected to benefit from the sustained launches of motorcycles by two-wheeler players.

Two-wheeler manufacturers need to maintain market share through continued new launches.

Other segments like the three-wheeler and the passenger car segment are expected to help Gabriel record good growth in the future.