Maruti Suzuki net down 3%

Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest carmaker, beat estimates with a smaller-than-expected 3% fall in fourth quarter net profit, its third consecutive quarterly slide on sluggish sales growth and tighter margins.

Maruti, 54.2% owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, has had a year to forget after labour strikes and an industry-wide demand slowdown hit sales and dragged down profits as rising input prices and a weaker rupee increased costs.

The company said profit fell to Rs 640 crore in the January to March quarter from Rs 680 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose 17.2% to Rs 11,486 crore.

Analysts expected net profit of Rs 564 crore, according to Thomson Reuters.