Maruti Udyog Q4 net profit up 39.10 pc at Rs 360.92 crore

New Delhi, Apr 26 (UNI) Country's largest car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) has registered a 39.10 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 360.92 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 as against Rs 259.45 crore for the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal.

The company said its total income has climbed up by 7.13 per cent to Rs 3,392.27 crore for Q4 FY 05-06 from Rs 3,139.73 crore in Q4 FY 04-05.

Maruti Udyog has posted 39.29 per cent rise in the net profit at Rs 1,189.05 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006 as compared to Rs 853.63 crore for the year ended March 31 last year.

The total income has increased by 10 per cent to Rs 12,481.43 crore for FY 05-06 from Rs 11,346.57 crore in FY 04-05.

The company also announced that it would launch a new export model during 2008-09. ''This model, while serving the Indian market, would be for export, mainly to Europe,'' the company said, adding that it will aim to export 1,00,000 units of this model annually.

The Board of Directors have recommended a final dividend aggregating to Rs 101.12 crore, ie Rs 3.50 per share (nominal value Rs 5.00 per share) for the financial year 2005-06.

With the excise duty reduction from 24 per cent to 16 per cent, on the small car segment announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram recently and cheaper car loans, auto sales have been on the rise.

The small car segment comprises more than three-quarters of the country's car market. Maruti Udyog Ltd, 54.2 per cent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp makes top models such as the Zen and Alto, and last year launched the popular hatchback Swift.

Maruti sold a total of 154,400 vehicles in January-March, up 5 per cent from a year earlier. Its domestic sales rose 8 per cent, while exports fell 26 per cent on the year.

Following the excise cut, MUL had cut prices on five of its models by as much as Rs 25,000. Earlier, it had raised prices of all its models by 0.5-3.5 per cent in January.

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