Mumbai, Jan 23 (Inditop.com) India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki Saturday reported that net profits during the third quarter ended Dec 31 had tripled to Rs.687.53 crore, largely due to improved sales.
The company, in which Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp has a 54.2 percent stake, saw net profit during the third quarter of 2008-09 drop to Rs.213.57 crore, due to auto sales being hit in the midst of the economic slowdown.
Total income during the third quarter of the current fiscal was Rs.7,594.1 crore, a rise of 58.09 percent from Rs.4,803.5 crore in the year-ago period.
In the quarter under review, Maruti’s domestic sales grew by 37.8 percent to 218,910 units, led by compact cars Alto and WagonR. Sales in the domestic A2 segment grew by 38.6 percent, while in the A3 segment sales rose by 41.7 percent as compared to October-December 2008.
The company’s exports during the October-December 2009 quarter increased by over 167 percent to 39,116 units. The company had exported 14,634 units in the year-ago period.
The car major’s income from the servicing business also grew to Rs.Rs.38.8 crore in the quarter compared to Rs.24.48 crore earlier.
For the nine-month period April-December, net profit stood at Rs.1,841.07 crore, compared to Rs.975.54 crore in the year-ago period.
The total income stood at Rs.21,198.46 crore compared to Rs.14,419.62 crore in the first nine months of the last fiscal.
“The company remains cautiously optimistic about sale volumes in the current quarter. The margins would be under pressure due to introduction of BSIV technology in the large volume models and hardening of commodity prices,” said Maruti on its outlook for the rest of the fiscal ending March 31.
Maruti Suzuki currently has the capability to manufacture a million units at its Gurgaon and Manesar factories. The company is planning to expand its capacity at Manesar, from the current 300,000 units to 550,000 units.
The investment for this expansion will be Rs.1,700 crore, with the additional capacity set to commence commercial production by April 2012.
