Mahindra Tractor Sales Down

While Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd has said fourth-quarter profit rose 35.5% from a year earlier boosted by a one-time gain, the jump did not come from its farm equipment sales.

The company’s revenue from the farm equipment segment, which includes tractors, shrunk 1.17%. Farm equipment sales account for around 30% of the company’s overall revenue.

Tractor sales in India, the world’s largest market for the farm vehicles, dropped 5% to 125,689 units in the first three months of 2012 from a year earlier, according to industry lobby Tractor Manufacturers Association of India, as high interest rates deterred buyers.

After remaining at the helm for 48 years, Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman Keshub Mahindra will step down August 8, 2012, making way for his nephew, Anand Mahindra to head the $15.4 billion conglomerate.