The Hindu Business Line : Maruti Q3 net zooms 70 pc

DESPITE pressure from rising costs of key raw materials, passenger car leader Maruti Udyog Ltd on Monday announced a 70.3-per cent jump in net profit to Rs 239.66 crore in the October-December 2004 quarter compared with Rs 140.75 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company's total income (net of excise) increased by 26.9 per cent to Rs 3,016.47 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal.

According to a company statement, the increase in prices of steel and other raw materials was "partially offset by cost reduction and value analysis and value engineering activities within the company."

The company's efforts at reducing labour costs through a voluntary retirement scheme also contributed towards the growth in profit. While the staff cost in the October-December 2003 period stood at Rs 138.44 crore, it fell to Rs 57.78 crore in October-December 2004. Maruti also saw higher volumes driven by sales of Alto and WagonR. Sales of the company's compact cars, Alto, Zen and WagonR, jumped by 67 per cent during April-December 2004. Overall, the company witnessed growth of about 19 per cent in total unit sales during the first nine months of the fiscal year at 3,89,541 units.

Meanwhile, the company's total income grew 24.5 per cent to Rs 8,422.72 crore (net of excise) during the first nine months of this fiscal, and net profit stood at Rs 594.18 crore, up 54.3 per cent over April-December 2003.

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