KARACHI, Feb 22: The Indus Motor Company has declared an interim dividend at the rate of 40 per cent or Rs4 per share for the half year ended on December 31, 2007, versus Rs5 per share paid for the same period last year.

The board of directors in a meeting, held at IMC’s manufacturing plant at Port Qasim, reviewed the company’s financial and operating performance for the half year.

A press release issued here on Friday said production of Toyota and Daihatsu brands was 22,824 units as compared to 22,489 units produced during the same period in 2006. Sales of Toyota and Daihatsu products were 23,138 units, down 3 per cent from 23,905 units in the same period the previous year.

It said IMC’s total sales revenue was Rs18.7 billion and profit after tax was Rs1.4 billion.

The domestic automobile industry, which had shown impressive growth rates for the last several years, recorded its first half year drop in volume since 2001, primarily due to the uncertainty emanating from the political environment in the country. Nation-wide sales of locally-assembled passenger cars, light commercial vehicles (LCV), new and used cars was 99,681 units, down nine per cent compared to 110,085 units sold during the half year ended on December 31, 2006.

The unsatisfactory law and order situation, tightening of auto finance and imposition of 2.5 per cent withholding tax effective September 2007 contributed towards the decline in the second quarter. Total industry production of CKD cars and LCV at 94,300 units was nearly the same in the corresponding period last year, the press release said.