Led by higher volumes, the country's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) on Thursday reported a net profit of ₹2,398 crore, a growth of 60 per cent, in the second quarter this fiscal.

The company had reported a net profit of ₹1,497 crore in the same period last year.

“It has been in many ways the best quarter we have ever had. When you have capacity utilisation like we have now, every extra car we make adds to profit because of reduced overheads, including depreciation,” RC Bhargava, Chairman, told reporters here.

Total income from operations also rose to ₹20,297 crore (₹15,700 crore). EPS stood at ₹70 against ₹50. It sold about 4,18,470 vehicles during the quarter, a growth of 18 per cent over the same period previous year.

Sales in the domestic market stood at 3,83,030 units, a growth of more than 18 per cent. Exports were at 35,440 units, up 18 per cent, MSIL said.

As per the second quarter performance in the ongoing fiscal, on annualised basis, the production would have crossed 1.7 million cars, which is ‘way beyond the 100 per cent capacity utilisation,’ he said.

Bhargava said the company’s profitability was driven by high capacity utilisation due to robust sales. The company’s sales in the period were at best in a quarter beating the previous record of 3,60,402 units in the fourth quarter of 2015-16, the company said.

MSIL said lower expenses on sales promotion and marketing and higher non-operating income also contributed to increase in profit.

This was partially offset by adverse foreign exchange movement, which stood at ₹145 crore for the quarter, after taking into account royalty payment, import and export expenses.

The company’s shares closed at ₹5,859.75 on the BSE on Thursday, down 0.21 per cent from the previous close.

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