Maruti Suzuki’s net profit for the quarter ending December 31, 2012 more than doubled, with net sales registering a 45 per cent jump over the previous corresponding quarter.
The company attributed the performance to higher volumes, favourable model mix, enhanced export realisation and good response to new models such as the Ertiga and the Swift Dzire.
Cost reduction efforts
The company’s continued cost reduction efforts helped drive profits in the quarter, a statement said.
Total vehicle sales were up 26 per cent, with domestic vehicle sales increasing by 27 per cent and exports by 17 per cent.
Maruti Suzuki increased prices by up to Rs 20,000 on various models last week, owing to cost pressures.
In the third quarter of the last financial year, the company’s production was hit due to labour problems at its Manesar plant.
Consequently, it lost about 40,000 units in production. For the October-December 2011 period, net profit fell 63 per cent over the previous year.
For the third quarter of this financial year, Maruti Suzuki’s total expenses were up 40 per cent at Rs 10,667 crore and cost of raw material up 43 per cent at Rs 8,367 crore over the same period last year.
Maruti Suzuki’s shares closed a little over four per cent up on the BSE at Rs 1,600.20.