Bajaj Auto Ltd reported a 9 per cent increase in standalone net profit in the second quarter of the fiscal on Wednesday that failed to meet street expectations.

The two-wheeler firm giant posted a net profit of ₹2,005.04 crore against ₹1,836.14 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Analysts had projected the net profit in the region of ₹2,200 crore.

Revenues during the quarter (July to September) rose 21 per cent to ₹13,127.47 crore against ₹10,777.27 crore a year ago.

This was also lower than the estimates of around ₹13,300 crore by various brokerages.

However, consolidated profit after tax dropped 31 per cent to ₹1,385 crore, impacted by higher expenses and a one-time hit due to an increase in its provision for deferred tax.

The company had reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of ₹2,020 crore in the July-September period of last fiscal.

“We had to make a one-time additional provision of ₹211 crore on account of deferred tax,” Bajaj Auto executive director Rakesh Sharma said in an earnings call.

He said the withdrawal of the indexation benefit on long-term capital gains increased the effective tax rate to 14 per cent on debt mutual funds from about 6.8-7 per cent.

Sharma clarified that this is a one-time hit and it had nothing to do with the company’s operations.

Bajaj Auto invests surplus funds into a range of asset classes, including debt mutual funds and had to make accounting provisions for deferred tax on fair value gains on these investments.

During the quarter, the company sold 12.21 lakh units, an increase of 16 per cent from 10.53 lakh units sold a year-ago.

Domestic two-wheeler sales grew 26 per cent to 6.36 lakh units against 5.05 lakh units a year ago.

Exports rose 3.96 lakh units against 3.76 lakh units a year ago, an increase of 5 per cent.

On electric two-wheelers, Sharma said: “We are expanding and invigorating the Chetak range just after Diwali...we will be starting with the launch in November, which will upgrade the product and make the portfolio broader, and we are very optimistic about that.”