Maruti Q1 net falls 23pc

Reuters, 28 July 2012

Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest carmaker, lagged estimates with a 23 per cent fall in fiscal first-quarter profit, its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline, as a weak local rupee currency pushed up costs.
Maruti, 54.2 per cent owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, said net profit fell to 4.24 billion rupees for the three months to June from 5.49 billion rupees a year earlier.
‘Adverse currency movements, notably the Yen-rupee exchange rate, impacted profits negatively,’ Maruti, which imports many components from Japan, said in a statement.
Net sales for the quarter rose 27.5 per cent to 105.3 billion rupees from a year earlier.
Analysts expected a net profit of 4.85 billion rupees for the quarter on revenue of 101.10 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters.
Maruti faces months of supply woes and a slump in market share and sales as a lockout at a key factory enters its second week after violent clashes between workers and management left one company official dead.