Profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 64.10 crore in Q4 FY20, down by 88.6% from Rs 563.05 crore in Q4 FY19. "The decline is due to the reduced turnover following the market slowdown and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic during the last few days of the quarter”, the company said in a statement.

During the quarter, Bosch has made an incremental provision of Rs 297 crore, towards various restructuring, reskilling and redeployment initiatives. These provisions are in line with the company's transformation initiatives and have been made to capitalize on opportunities emerging in electro-mobility and other mobility related projects.

Consolidated net profit declined 59.4% to Rs 649.53 crore on a 18.6% fall in net sales to Rs 9841.63 crore in the year ended March 2020 (FY20) over the year ended March 2019 (FY19). PBT stood at Rs 984.71 crore in FY20, up by 57.9% from Rs 2338.66 crore in FY19.

"Bosch's mobility business sector declined by 24.4% in 2019-20, due to slowdown in the auto segment. Domestic sales declined by 25.9% and export sales declined by 6.1%. Within the mobility segment, the powertrain solutions business registered a decline of 30.2% owing to low performing automotive market. Business beyond mobility solutions has recorded a decline of 14.4%", the company said.

"The financial figures reported are in-line with the downward trend in the automotive industry which has been going through a challenging phase for some time and is now having to deal with the impact of the coronavirus. More than ever, it is now important to stay connected with associates and customers and assess groundlevel activities. We have to prepare ourselves for a prolonged slowdown in the market in FY 2020-21", said Soumitra Bhattacharya, managing director of Bosch.

Speaking about the outlook for the upcoming fiscal year, Bhattacharya commented: "As a leading automotive technology company with 80% of our revenues driven through mobility business, we have been affected severly."

Welcoming the government's economic package, he added, "We are still awating to receive further guidance on industry-specific stimulus package that will support the auto sector."

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, Bosch anticipates considerable challenges for the global economy in the current business year. ‘To achieve at least a balanced result, will take a supreme effort', the board of management of the Bosch Group announced during the recent Annual Press Conference in Germany.

Bosch is a supplier of technology and services in the areas of mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and building technology.