Maruti Suzuki Q3 net falls 17.80 per cent to Rs565.17 crore

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd today reported a 17.8 per cent year-on-year decline in its fiscal third quarter net profit, at Rs565.17 crore against a net profit of Rs687.53 crore in the same period a year ago,

Maruti Suzuki reported a net profit of Rs598.2 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year (July-September 2010).

The third quarter of the current fiscal was marked by pressure on margins, primarily due to adverse foreign exchange movement and higher royalty payout. Increase in commodity costs during the quarter also impacted margins, the company said in a release.

In the October-December 2010 quarter, Maruti Suzuki's domestic sales volume grew 36.8 per cent to 299,527 units, led by Alto, Wagon R and Swift.

Exports during the quarter was down by 20.34 per cent to 31,160 units from 39,116 units in the same period of the previous fiscal.
 
The company registered its highest-ever sales in the domestic market with 107,555 units in October 2010. In November 2010, domestic sales touched 102,503 crossing the 1 lakh milestone for the second time in the quarter.

During the quarter, all models continued to achieve good sales numbers. The company's volume in the domestic A2 segment grew 35.3 per cent, while in the A3 segment, sales volume grew 26.4 per cent compared to sales in October-December 2009. Sales in the C segment, comprising Omni and Eeco, grew by a robust 78.5 per cent.

At the end of the quarter, Maruti Suzuki's sales network stood at 889, covering 631 cities against end-March 2010 figure of 802 outlets in 555 cities.

Service network as stood at 2,879 workshops, covering 1,373 cities, up from 2,740 workshops across 1,335 cities as of end-March 2010.
 
In terms of units, the company's total sales grew by 28.16 per cent at 3,30,687 units as against 2,58,026 in the year-ago period.
 
Domestic sales during the quarter grew 36.83 per cent to 2,99,527 units as against 2,18,910 units in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.