Maruti Suzuki Q4 results: Revenue slightly below estimates, margin in-line, says PL

Maruti Suzuki's revenue for the March quarter came in slightly below estimates while its Ebitda margin was in line, said Himanshu Singh, Research Analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher.

India's biggest car maker reported a 43 per cent surge in its March quarter profit at Rs 2,624 crore, led by strong demand. The profit figure was lower than Rs 2,830.50 crore projected by Kotak Institutional Equities, Rs 2,836.50 crore by Motilal Oswal Securities and Rs 2,684.90 crore by Emkay Global.

Revenue for the quarter jumped 20.8 per cent to Rs 30,822 crore. Emkay had pegged sales figure at Rs 32,613 crore and Kotak Institutional Equities at Rs 32,377 crore.

Relatively better sales volume led to improved capacity utilisation, driving higher margins, Maruti said in a statement, adding that it saw improved price realisation, as well as favourable foreign exchange.

Ebitda margin for the quarter came in at 10.45 per cent, expanding from 9.75 per cent last quarter and 9.1 per cent a year ago. Singh of Prabhudas Lilladher said pressure on gross margin was offset by lower operating expenses and said the overall the results were in line.

"Maruti Suzuki is planning to add 1mn unit capacity, will await for more details on the call today," Singh said.

Maruti, which has a market share of over 40 per cent, also said its board approved creation of additional capacity of up to one million vehicles per year, adding that the existing capacity of 1.3 million units is fully utilised. The firm's board approved final dividend of Rs 90 per share. The firm's revenue from operations increased 20% to Rs 32,048 crore from Rs 26,740 crore in Q4FY22.

Earlier today, shares of Maruti Suzuki closed at Rs 8,503.15 on BSE, up 0.26 per cent. Singh has a target of Rs 10,600 on the stock.

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