Indian carmaker beats profit forecast as supply woes ease

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India’s biggest carmaker, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, aided by a weaker Japanese yen and easing of some supply chain constraints that boosted production recovery.

Net income was 20.6 billion rupees ($250 million) for the three months ending September 30, the unit of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp. said in a statement to exchanges, compared with a profit of 4.75 billion rupees a year earlier. That beat the average analyst estimate of 18.09 billion rupees.

Revenue rises 46% to 299.3 billion rupees, which was higher than estimates. Total costs climbed 36% while raw material expenses surged 44% compared to same period last year, according to the filing.

“We are forecasting overall sales by the end of this year to be roughly of the same order as they were in 2018-19,” Chairman RC Bhargava said in a post-earnings media call.

While some lingering component shortages hurt output by 35,000 units, the carmaker said it sold 517,395 vehicles during the quarter — the highest ever — with 454,200 units sold in the domestic market. Maruti “has been making simultaneous efforts in securing electronic components availability, cost reduction and improving realisation from the market to better its margins,” the filing said.

—Bloomberg