Maruti to pay 100 per cent dividend; Q4 net near Rs300 crore

24 April 2008

Mumbai: Maruti Suzuki Ltd, the country's largest car maker, today reported a 33.64 per cent dip in net profit for the quarter ended March 2008 at Rs297.7 crore against Rs448.6 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The two figures, however, are not comparable as Maruti Suzuki has made higher provisioning for depreciation under a more stringent depreciation policy adopted from 2007-08, the company said in a statement.

Under the new policy, the company has made an additional provision of Rs212.3 crore for depreciation for the full year 2007-08, it said.    

Under the shorter depreciation cycles for its equipment and tooling assets, full depreciation will now be eight years instead of 13 years previously. The full depreciation for dies will be four years instead of the earlier five years, the statement said.

Net income (net of excise) during the quarter stood at Rs5,069.9 crore, up 9.4 per cent from January-March 2007.

For fiscal 2007-08, the company's total income (net of excise) rose 23.4 per cent from 2006-07 (year-on-year) to a record Rs18,823.8 crore. Net profit during the year stood at Rs1730.8 crore, up 10.8 per cent over 2006-07, despite higher provision for depreciation.