Maruti Q1 profit up 23%, beats estimates
Maruti Suzuki, India’s top-selling car maker, posted a forecast-beating 23% rise in firstquarter net profit on Tuesday, as higher sales offset the adverse impact of an unfavourable foreign exchange rate.
Maruti, which is controlled by Suzuki Motor through the Japanese company’s 56.2% stake, said profit for the April-June quarter was ₹1,486 crore from ₹1,208 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales rose 12% to ₹14,650 crore.
Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of ₹1,239 crore, Thomson Reuters data showed. However, its shares fell by 1.44% on the BSE to end at ₹4,485.25 per share.
Maruti’s results are increasingly important to parent Suzuki as the Japanese company recovers from an emissions testing scandal at home. Suzuki’s stake in Maruti is worth $11.5 billion (₹77,400 crore), or nearly 80% of the Japanese company’s $14.5 billion (₹97,500 crore) market value.
“The profit in the quarter was helped by a higher turnover, material cost reduction, higher non-operating income and lower depreciation,” it said in an emailed statement. “Adverse foreign exchange movement reduced profits to some extent.”
The yen appreciated 11% against the rupee during April-June, Reuters data said, raising Maruti’s outgo for imports and the royalty it pays to its parent.
The firm said it sold 348,443 units during the quarter, a growth of 2.1% a year ago. This includes 322,340 units in domestic market and 26,103 units for exports. Maruti’s quarterly vehicles sales were tepid due to 10% fall in sales in June because of a fire at Subros Ltd.