Bosch Limited announced on Wednesday that it has registered 12 per cent growth in sales in the Jan-March 2008 quarter, (first quarter for the company) inspite of slowdown in Auto sector. Bosch’s net sales in the first quarter was Rs 1201.50 crore. Company’s profit after tax stood at Rs 161.70 crore, down 12 per cent compared to Q1 last year.

The main reason behind the drop in profits and a slower growth in sales in the Jan-Mar quarter this year was the overall slowdown in the automobile sector, according to Bosch Ltd Managing Director V K Vishwanathan. While sales of tractors, three wheelers and two wheelers have declined in Q1 this year compared to last year, sales of cars and light commercial vehicles have seen lower growth, explained Mr Vishwanathan. Since Bisch’s revenue mostly come from automobile sector the slowdown has impacted its topline and bottomline growth.  Bosch’s  consolidated revenue for the year 2007 was  Rs 5,700 crores.