The company made the announcement during trading hours today, 2 February 2009.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 242.68 points, or 2.58%, to 9,181.56.

On BSE, 8,822 shares were traded in the counter. The stock had an average daily volume of 56,766 shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 493.50 and a low of Rs 464 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 945 on 26 May 2008 and a 52-week low of Rs 294.65 on 2 December 2008.

The mid-cap stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 30 January 2009, gaining 22.63% as compared to the Sensex's decline of 3%. It had underperformed the market in the past one quarter, falling 10.95% as compared to the Sensex's return of 4.20%.

The company's current equity is Rs 144.68 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

The current price of Rs 469.95 discounts the company's Q3 December 2008 annualized EPS of Rs 45.42, by a PE multiple of 10.35.

Bajaj Auto's motorbike sales dropped 34.13% to 1,09,666 units, while its three wheeler sales fell 10.63% to 21,985 units in January 2009 over January 2008. Total exports, however, jumped 24.11% at 54,027 units in the same period.

The company said high interest rates and sluggish in consumer spending dented automobile sales.

Bajaj Auto's net profit fell 23% to Rs 164.27 crore on 16.4% fall in net sales to Rs 2004.75 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.

Bajaj Auto is engaged in manufacturing two and three wheeler vehicles.