The country's largest passenger car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Thursday reported net profit of ₹1,799 crore for the third quarter ending December 31, which was up 3 per cent compared with ₹1,747 crore in the same period last year.

The numbers are much lower than the street’s expectations. Analysts say the company’s net profit should have crossed ₹2,000 crore in the quarter.

Total revenue from operations rose slightly to ₹19,283 crore during the period against ₹19,196 crore in October-December 2016. EPS stood at ₹59.56 (₹57.84).

The company said its Board has approved a revision in the method of calculating royalty which would result in lower royalty payments for new model agreements starting with the Ignis. The revision is yet to be approved by the Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) Board, Japan.

“This (revised royalty) would be implemented after approval by the Board of Suzuki Motor Corporation," the company said. Right now, MSIL pays around 5 per cent as royalty (on each vehicle) to SMC, Japan, and as per the company's senior managements, the royalty may come down to 3-4 per cent after the approval.

During the quarter, the company sold a total of 4,31,112 vehicles, posting a growth of 11.3 per cent over the same period of the previous year when it sold 3,87,251 units.

Sales in the domestic market stood at 4,00,586 units, a growth of 12.4 per cent over the corresponding period of 2016. Exports were at 30,526 units in the third quarter last year.

The company said the operating profit was ₹3,038 crore, a growth of 22 per cent over the same period previous year on account of higher sales volume, cost reduction efforts, lower sales promotion expenses and forex benefit, partially offset by adverse commodity prices.

For the nine-month period ending December 31, the company said the operating profit grew more than 16 per cent over the same period in the previous year to ₹9,046 crore, on account of higher sales volume, favourable product mix, cost reduction efforts and forex benefit and partially offset by adverse commodity prices.

The company’s scrip closed at ₹9,277.20 on the BSE on Thursday, down 1.60 per cent from the previous close.

comment COMMENT NOW