Maruti profit zooms to 3,878 crore, highest ever in a quarter

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported its highest quarterly net profit as growing share of SUVs fueled its sales while ease in commodity prices helped margins.
Consolidated net profit in Jan-March (Q4 of FY24) soared 48% to Rs 3,878 crore when compared with Rs 2,624 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said.
The company, in which Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation holds 58.2% stake, sold 13.4% more cars in the fourth quarter at over 5.8 lakh units (including 78,740 units exported).Its material cost as percentage of sales dropped 190 bps to 74.2%.
Maruti sold 71.5% more utility vehicles -- mostly SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) -- at over 1.8 lakh. Utility vehicle share was 36% in the March quarter, up from 24% last year.
In an investor presentation, it attributed the rise in profit to “improved capacity utilisation, cost reduction efforts, softening of commodity prices, improved realisation and higher non-operating income.”
During the quarter, the company registered net sales of Rs 36,697 crore against Rs 30,822 crore in the same period of the previous year.
For the full fiscal year (FY24), the company reported a 64% jump in net profit to a record Rs 13,210 crore. Sales were up 20% at Rs 1,34,938 crore in April 2023 to March 2024.
During the year, the firm sold 2 million cars. The numbers “represent the company’s highest ever unit sales, net sales, and net profit both for the quarter and the financial year,” it said.
Addressing a virtual media briefing here, the company’s chairman R C Bhargava said it will start production of the first electric vehicle in the current fiscal. “As far as EV is concerned, we will start production in this financial year. We have a commitment to export the first lot of cars to Europe,” he said.
The domestic market may not see EV cars in reasonable numbers this financial year, he said, while replying to a query.
The board of directors recommended highest-ever dividend of Rs 125 per share (face value of Rs 5 per share) for FY24 compared to Rs 90 per share in FY23.