Maruti Suzuki riding high as Q2 profit beats street forecast

The stock has rallied 5.7% at Rs 1,600 in early morning deals on the National Stock Exchange.

Maruti Suzuki India has rallied over 4% at Rs 1,575 in early morning deals on NSE after reporting a better than expected net profit at Rs 670 crore for the quarter ended September 2013 (Q2FY2014), driven by strong growth in exports, favorable exchange rate and cost control measures. Analyst on an average had expected profit of Rs 551 crore for the quarter. The company had reported profit of Rs 227 crore in year ago quarter.

The results are not comparable on a year-on-year (yoy) basis as performance in Q2FY2013 was impacted due to the labor strike and additionally Q2FY2014 results reflect the impact of the consolidation of Suzuki Power Train India operations.

During the quarter, the company’s net sales rose 26.5% to Rs 10,212 crore, on the back of a 15% yoy increase in volumes to 241,562 units.

On the operating front, EBITDA margins surprised positively, registering an expansion of 123bp qoq to 12.6%, ahead of our expectations of 10.8%, says analyst at Angel Broking in a note.

The surprise was driven primarily due to the lower raw-material expenses (down 1.4% qoq) on account of the cost reduction initiatives and favorable impact of foreign exchange (benefitted to the tune of Rs 105 crore), he adds.

The stock opened at Rs 1,590 and touched high of Rs 1,600 so far on NSE. A combined around 250,000 shares have changed hands on the counter till 0917 hours on NSE and BSE.