Maruti Q4 net profit rises 79 pc 

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India has reported 79.4 pc jump in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended 31st March at Rs 1,147.5 crore, mainly on the account of good sales of models like Ertiga, DZire and Swift. The company had registered a net profit of Rs 639.8 crore during the corresponding period last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement on Friday. The company's standalone net sales during the fourth quarter of the last fiscal went up by 9.4 percent to Rs 12,566.6 crore from Rs 11,486.4 crore in the year-ago period, it added. During January-March period, MSI sold a total of 3,43,709 vehicles, down 4.6 percent from 3,60,334 units in the same period last year. Commenting on the numbers, MSI said: "The increase in net profit during the quarter was on account of higher sales of new models such as Ertiga, DZire and Swift; cost reduction and localisation efforts, and the benefit of a favourable exchange rate." For the entire 2012-13 financial year, MSI posted a rise of 40.7 percent in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,300 crore as against Rs 1,635.1 crore in the previous fiscal, the statement said. The company's standalone net sales went up by 21.4 percent to Rs 42,122.9 crore in FY'13 from Rs 34,705.9 crore in FY'12, it added. Total vehicle sales of the company during last fiscal fell by 3.3 percent to 11,71,434 units from 11,33,695 units in 2011-12. During its meeting on Friday, the Board of Directors recommended a dividend of 160 percent, which is Rs 8 per share of face value Rs 5 for 2012-13. The dividend in 2011-12 was at 150 percent, the statement said. In 2012-13, engine maker Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL) was merged with MSI. Considering the performance of SPIL, MSI's standalone net profit during the fourth quarter stood at Rs 1,239.6 crore, while the net sales was Rs 13,056.3 crore. Likewise, MSI posted a standalone net profit of Rs 2,392.1 crore for 2012-13 and net sales of Rs 42,612.6 crore in the same fiscal after combining the figures of SPIL. For the last fiscal, the consolidated net profit stood Rs 2,469.3 crore. MSI registered a consolidated net sales of Rs 43,215.8 crore. Shares of MSI were trading 5.36 percent up at Rs 1,674.90 apiece on BSE during afternoon.