Pune: Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest car maker, on Friday posted 27.30 per cent drop in its April-June 2019 quarter standalone net profit to Rs 1,435.50 crore despite a three-fold jump in other income, dragged down by lower sales volumes and higher depreciation expenses.
The maker of popular car models like Vitara Breeza and Ciaz had reported a profit of Rs 1,975.3 crore in the quarter ended June 2018.
During the quarter, its revenue de-grew by 12.2 per cent to Rs 19,719.8 crore compared to year-ago period, with 18 per cent year-on-year fall in sales volumes. T
The company sold 17.90 per cent less vehicles at 4,02,594 units in the June quarter compared to the same period last year. Other income increased to Rs 836.4 crore in Q1, against Rs 271.8 crore in the year-ago period.
The company's numbers were ahead of estimates. Profit was estimated at Rs 1,350 crore on revenue of Rs 19,244 crore for the quarter, as per poll of analysts conducted by CNBC-TV18.
The stock rallied more than 2 per cent to Rs 5,881.25 after hitting fresh one-year low of Rs 5,685.15 on the BSE. The operating performance also beat analyst expectations despite being subdued. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) de-grew by 38.9 per cent to Rs 2,048 crore and margin contracted 450bps to 10.4 per cent compared to year-ago.
The company, however, maintained margin above 10 per cent level despite subdued environment.
The Ebitda was expected at Rs 1,990 crore with margin at 10.2 per cent, as per poll of analysts expected by CNBC-TV18.
The higher fair value gain on invested surplus and cost reduction efforts supported margin, but higher depreciation expenses, lower capacity utilisation, adverse commodity prices and higher sales promotion expenses dented margin, Maruti Suzuki said in its regulatory filing at BSE.
Demand environment may remain uncertain going forward, it pointed out.
Finance cost grew by 164 per cent year-on-year to Rs 54.7 crore and depreciation cost increased by 27.6 per cent to Rs 918.6 crore compared to the year-ago period due to Ind-AS adjustment.
