Tokyo, May 10 (DPA) Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp said Monday its fourth-quarter net profit almost doubled year-on-year, as the carmaker profited from consumers switching to smaller cars.
Suzuki, Japan’s forth-biggest carmaker, is a a producer of hatchbacks, minicars and motorcycles. The company was less affected than other automakers by the global downturn, as consumers went for its fuel-efficient cars.
Net profits for the January-March period were 13.4 billion yen ($143.4 million), up from 5.8 billion yen the corresponding period last year. Operating profit was 29.5 billion yen, up from 10.45 billion yen year-on-year.
For the business year through March, net profit was up 5.4 percent to 28.8 billion yen and operating income increased by 3.2 percent to 79.3 percent. Sales were down 17.8 percent to 2.47 trillion yen.
Sales in Asia increased 103 percent year-on-year to 780.6 billion yen due largely to increased sales of its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
Suzuki forecast a 80-billion-yen operating profit for the 2010-11 business year, an increase of 0.8 percent. Net profit is expected to rise by 3.8 percent to 30 billion yen, while sales are predicted to go up 1.3 percent to 2.5 trillion yen.
