Suzuki Motor net nearly triples in 9 months to Dec

Japanese auto maker Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) today reported a nearly three-fold rise in its consolidated net profit for the nine months to December at 42.61 billion yen (over Rs 2,350 crore) on the back of strong sales in Asia. It had posted a net profit of 15.49 billion yen (over Rs 855 crore) in the previous corresponding period.

SMC attributed its healthy results to strong performances in various Asian nations such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand. Sales from the region grew by 26.4 per cent to 704.2 billion yen (about Rs 38,900 crore).

SMC said its Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), sold 820,000 units during the first nine months, 31.2 per cent more than 625,000 units sold during the corresponding period in 2009.

The Indian two-wheeler unit of SMC, Suzuki Motorcycle India, posted a 58.87 per cent rise in sales at 197,000 units, compared to 124,000 units a year earlier.

MSIL, 54.2 per cent owned by Suzuki, had last month reported a 17.80 per cent fall in its net profit for the December quarter at Rs 565.17 crore due to higher royalty payout, increased employee costs and higher discounts. It had posted a net profit of Rs 687.53 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Net sales during the third quarter rose 26.49 per cent to Rs 9,276.73 crore from Rs 7,333.77 crore.

Consolidated net sales of SMC during the nine months jumped by 8.37 per cent to 1.93 trillion yen (about Rs 1,06,430 crore) from 1.78 trillion yen (over Rs 98,200 crore) in the year-ago period.

“Consolidated net sales of this first nine months increased... because of the increased sales of automobiles in Japan and of motorcycles and automobiles in Asia, though sales in North America and Europe were lower than the same period of the previous year,” SMC said.

During the nine months, it sold 1.9 million units of cars and 975,000 units of motorcycles, up by 18.43 per cent and 6.09 per cent, respectively.