Maruti Suzuki Q2 net zooms nearly three-fold

Maruti Suzuki India, India's largest carmaker, has said its net profit surged nearly three-fold to Rs 670.23 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, on low base effect, cost saving initiatives and positive impact of foreign exchange.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 227.45 crore in the corresponding period last financial year.

"The company's performance during the quarter has to be viewed in the context of unusually low levels of profit in the second quarter of last year (July-September 2012) owing to labour problems in Manesar," the carmaker said in a statement.

Higher localisation and cost reduction initiatives by the company also contributed significantly to bottomline growth during the second quarter, it added.

Maruti Suzuki said the overall impact of foreign exchange was also positive during the quarter.

Net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 10,211.83 crore, against Rs 8,070.11 crore in the same period a year ago. In terms of volumes, sales were up by 19.6 per cent to 2,75,586 units compared 2,30,376 in the year-ago period.

The company said new diesel engine facility at Gurgaon and the third assembly facility at Manesar went on stream during July-September.

"With this, the company's total capacity for vehicle assembly is 1.5 million vehicles per annum," the carmaker said.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki closed at Rs 1,513 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 0.41 per cent from the previous close.