"We are expecting a loss of Rs 100 million to Rs 150 million which would be much better than last year's first quarter loss of Rs 332 million," said Anish Damania, automobile analyst at Jardine Fleming India Broking.

Ashok Leyland is India's second largest truck maker. It also makes buses. The firm, based in Chennai, releases its results on Wednesday.

Analysts said the firm had gained from a turnaround in the Indian commercial vehicle market which appeared to be riding a general revival in the agriculture, cement and housing sectors.

Industry data released last month showed total commercial vehicle sales for the months of April and May 1999 at 18,654 units, compared with 13,954 in the year-ago period.

The company's vehicle sales rose to 6,710 units in the three months ended June 30 from 5,197 in thesame period last year, a company official told Reuters on Monday.

"Industrial production, cement despatches, steel sales and agricultural production are up -- all factors contributing to an increase in freight availability," said S Krishnakumar, vice-president (research) at Anush Shares and Securities.

However, the higher sales need to be viewed against a poor year-ago quarter, analysts said.

"I think we can say with a fair degree of confidence that the worst is over though it's not all hunky dory as yet with at least another possible hiccup in terms of the general elections," an automobile analyst at an asset managment company said. India goes to the polls between September 4 and October 1.

"I think the biggest credit to this firm is their reduction in working capital and reduction in interest costs which should help bolster their bottomline," he added.