Third quarter net profit for Maruti Suzuki down by 63.6 percent

Mumbai: On Monday, Maruti Suzuki reported a 63.6 percent fall in net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal at INR 205.62 crore as high interest rates and rising fuel costs hit demand for cars. The company had earned a net profit of INR 565.17 crore in the like quarter of 2010-11. Total income also decreased 16.43 percent at Rs.8042.77 crore from Rs.9624.64 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.

"Unit sales in the quarter were impacted by sluggish market conditions caused by higher fuel prices and interest rates. Additionally the company lost 40,000 units in production due to industrial relations problem at Manesar," the company said in a statement.Maruti Suzuki sold 211,803 units in the domestic market as against 299,527 vehicles in the like period of 2010-11. The company exported 27,725 units as against 31,160.

"The depreciation of the rupee during the quarter adversely impacted the bottom line through higher cost of imports for the company and its vendors and royalty."

The company reported a fall of 38.9 percent in its net profit for the nine months ended Dec 31, 2011 at Rs.995.30 crore from Rs.1,628.78 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The auto major's net sales declined by 10.4 percent at Rs.23,521 crore from Rs.26,264.50 crore in the like period of 2010-11. "During this period, the company sold 684,892 units in the domestic market as compared to 820,350 units during the same period in the last year. In exports, the company sold 88,469 units," the statement added.