Maruti Suzuki Q4 profits fall by 34.46%

Maruti Suzuki reported a 34.46% year-on-year drop in profits for the March quarter. Fourth quarter profit stood at Rs. 80001 million

The Indian car manufacturer said that lower volumes, stock compensation to dealers owing to reduction in excise duty and the sharp rise in expense for the promotion of sales led to this decline.

The year-ago quarterly profit is not strictly comparable as it included the full-year impact of Maruti's merger with its powertrain unit. A substantial decline in the yen had also made imports of auto parts cheaper.

Maruti Suzuki sold 1,155,041 vehicles during the year, a drop of 1.4% over the previous year. While domestic sales in Q4 declined to 298,596 units when compared to 308,871 units in the same period of the previous year, the company's exports stood at 101,352 units, a drop of 15.8%. In fact, Nissan India overtook Maruti Suzuki and knocked it off the second spot by exporting 1,16,314 vehicles, three times more than the Japanese car manufacturers domestic sales.

Maruti Suzuki also said that sales fell 9.5% year-on-year to Rs. 11,818 crore. Maruti Suzuki has recommended a dividend of Rs. 12 per share for 2013-14 whereas the dividend in 2012-13 was Rs. 8 per share.