The country's largest passenger car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), on Friday reported a standalone net profit of Rs. 1,882 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018 up 10 per cent, compared with Rs. 1,710 crore in the same period last year.
Net sales of the company also rose 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs. 20,594 crore from Rs. 20,423 crore in the same period previous year.
Operating profit stood at Rs 2,312 crore, a growth of 24 per cent, over the same period previous fiscal on account of higher sales volume, cost reduction efforts, partially offset by adverse commodity prices and higher advertisement expenses, the company said.
The company sold 4,61,773 vehicles during the January-March quarter of 2017-18 fiscal, up 11.4 per cent.
To commemorate the 35th anniversary of MSIL, the board has given its in-principle approval to establish an employee welfare fund, and a trust to promote scientific research and technology in India.
The company said that after formal approval by the board, the fund and the trust will be established later this year. Thereafter MSIL will contribute one per cent of the profit after tax of the previous year to each of the fund and the trust.
The company said its board has recommended a dividend of Rs 80 per share of face value Rs 5 for 2017-18.
The company shares were down 2.05 per cent at Rs 8,764.25 as the net profit missed street estimates. According to Thomson Reuters data, the average estimate of 22 analysts was Rs 2,110 crore.
An increase in effective tax rate impacted the net profit for the country's most valuable automaker. Tax expenses jumped about 31 per cent to Rs 752 crore in the quarter.
(With inputs from Agencies)