Maruti Suzuki Q4 profit rises 10% to Rs 1,882 cr

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest automaker, on Friday reported a 10 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,882.1 crore for the March quarter even as tax expenses went up.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,710.5 crore in January-March, 2016-17.

Net sales during the quarter rose to Rs 20,594.3 crore, up 14.4 per cent against the year-ago period. For the full year ended March 31, the company posted its highest ever annual net profit of Rs 7,721.8 crore, up 5.1 per cent from Rs 7,350.2 crore in the previous year.

Net sales in 2017-18 stood at Rs 78,104.8 crore, up 16.7 per cent from 2016-17. MSI Chairman RS Bhargava said: "Compared to last year the effective tax rates went up by about 3 per cent. So instead of 26 per cent earlier, it has gone up to 29 per cent."

Lower non-operating income due to mark-to-market impact on the invested surplus, compared to last year also impacted the net profit, he added. Other items which put pressure on balance sheet included an outgo of around Rs 255 crore for resolving a land issue in Manesar, Bhargava said.

MSI said it has earmarked Rs 5,000 crore for capex in the current fiscal. It plans to invest in various activities including new product development, engineering, maintenance of plants and network. MSI has also earmarked close to Rs 1,000 crore in 2018-19 to buy land parcels for new dealerships.

During the last fiscal, MSI's tax expense stood at Rs 3,281.6 crore as compared with Rs 2,610.1 crore in 201617, up 25.7 per cent. "Despite all this, we have done better during the year (2017-18) in all aspects. Our market share has gone up 2.7 per cent to 50 per cent in the passenger vehicle segment," he said.