Maruti Suzuki Q2 net profit rises 29% to Rs862 cr

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's top car maker, has reported standalone net profit of Rs862.54 crore for the second quarter of the current financial year ended 30 September, up 29 per cent compared to Rs670.23 crore of the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The company's net sales rose 17.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs11,996.3 crore during the quarter compared to Rs10,211.83 crore in the same period last year, the company stated in a release.

Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 321,898 vehicles in Q2, a growth of 16.8 per cent. Of this, exports were at 34,211 units. It sold 2,75,586 vehicles in the July-September period last year.

Growth in domestic sales and cost reduction initiatives by the company contributed significantly to bottomline growth during the quarter, MSL said.

Net profit stood at Rs 1,624.8 crore, up 24.8 per cent.

For the first half of the financial year, the company sold a total of 621,792 vehicles, up 14.7 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. Of this, exports were at 63,462 units, a growth of 15.2 per cent.

The company's net sales stood at Rs23,069.8 crore during April-September 2014, a growth of 14.2 per cent over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the board of MSIL recommended an increase of foreign institutional investors (FII) limit to 40 per cent, broadly the level of public shareholders in the stock. This is subject to shareholder approval in a general meeting. And subsequently the request will be sent to the RBI for notification.

The FII shareholding in MSIL was limited to 24 per cent earlier, as per Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, 2000 and the consolidated foreign direct investment policy of the Government of India.