Truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland on Friday said its net profit has surged by 63 per cent during the October-December quarter due to higher vehicle sales and lower financial expenses.

The company also said it was going ahead with a proposal to raise long-term debt upto $100 million in the international market to increase production capacity.

The net profit rose to Rs 37.98 crore (Rs 379.8 million) during the quarter ended December 31, 2003 from Rs 23.28 crore (Rs 232.8 million) a year ago, the Chennai-based automaker said in a statement.

Sales turnover jumped by 50 per cent year-on-year to Rs 987.41 crore (Rs 9.87 billion) from Rs 659.69 crore (Rs 6.60 billion).

The earnings per share also improved to Rs 3.19 from Rs 1.96 last year.

Net profit during the nine months ended December 2003 soared by 97 per cent to Rs 106.25 crore (Rs 1,062 million) from Rs 53.87 crore (Rs 538.7 million) a year earlier.

Sales turnover went up by 30 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2,634.06 crore (Rs 26.34 billion) from Rs 2,027.61 crore (Rs 20.28 billion).