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India's biggest domestic car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India, on Wednesday reported its April-June quarter (Q1FY23) result. The passenger vehicle maker said its profit after tax (PAT) grew 129.76% year-on-year to ₹1012.8 crore in the June quarter from ₹441 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
During the quarter, Maruti registered net sales of ₹25,286.3 crore, an increase of 50.52% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Revenue from operations came at ₹26,499.8 crore, up 49% YoY for the quarter under review.
Analysts said Maruti could report net profit growth between 200% and 300% on a low base of last year. The carmaker reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as rising input costs and supply chain constraints hurt earnings.
The company sold a total of 467,931 vehicles during the quarter. Sales in the domestic market stood at 398,494 units, it said in a filing to the NSE.
Exports were at 69,437 units, the highest ever in any quarter, the company said. During the same period previous year, the company sold a total of 353,614 units including sales of 308,095 units in domestic market and 45,519 units in export markets.
The company further said that a shortage of electronic components in this quarter resulted in about 51,000 vehicles not being produced. Pending customer orders stood at about 280,000 vehicles at the end of the quarter.
The operating profit in Q1FY23 stood at ₹1,260.7 crore. During the same period previous year, the Operating Profit was at ₹77.9 crore.
The increase in prices of commodities adversely impacted the Operating Profit in Q123, carmaker said.
“The company was forced to increase prices of vehicles to partially offset this impact. The Profit Before Tax was also impacted by the non-operating income being lower in this quarter due to mark-to-market loss," the statement said.
Chairman RC Bhargava has said Maruti will have to shift its focus to bigger cars because the demand for entry-level passenger vehicles – its main source of income – is waning as they become more expensive due to commodity inflation.
It’s considering expanding the capacity of a new plant in the northern Indian state of Haryana to 10 lakh vehicles a year, he said in May. Investment of more than $1.4 billion will go into the development of the first-phase of the plant.
Maruti is also betting on cars powered by hybrid technology, natural gas and biofuels over electric vehicles as India still generates about 75% of its electricity from dirty coal.
On Wednesday, Maruti shares were trading marginally higher at ₹8,574.15 apiece on NSE.