Maruti Suzuki profit soars 51 per cent to Rs 1,875 crore in January-March

New Delhi: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Friday reported a 51.14 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,875.8 crore in the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2022, despite semiconductor shortage hampering production. The company, which had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,241.1 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, said it has earmarked a little over Rs 5,000 crore as capex for the ongoing fiscal 2022-23, including expanding the capacity of its Manesar plant. Consolidated total revenue from operations stood at Rs 26,749.2 crore as against Rs 24,034.5 crore in the fourth quarter a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Total vehicle sales in the quarter under review stood at 4,88,830 units, lower by 0.7 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. Domestic sales were at 4,20,376 units, a decline of 8 per cent over that in Q4 FY21, the company said, adding exports were at 68,454 units which is the highest ever in any quarter, the company said. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2022, the company said its consolidated net profit stood at Rs 3,879.5 crore as compared to Rs 4,389.1 crore in FY21, down 11.6 per cent. Consolidated total revenue from operations for FY22 was at Rs 88,329.8 crore as against Rs 70,372 crore in FY21, it added. The company sold a total of 16,52,653 vehicles during the year, up 13.4 per cent over the previous year, it said, adding domestic sales were at 14,14,277 units, up 3.9 per cent over FY 2020-21. The company said it recorded its highest ever exports of 2,38,376 units in FY 2021-22 compared to 96,139 units in FY 2020-21. Maruti Suzuki said its production during the year was impacted by the shortage of electronic components by an estimated 2.7 lakh vehicles, mostly domestic models, because of which there were pending customer bookings of about 2.68 lakh units at the end of the year. The prices of commodities such as steel, aluminium and precious metals witnessed an unprecedented increase during this year, the company said, adding it was forced to increase the prices of vehicles to partially offset this impact. Addressing a virtual earnings press conference, Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava said the year was an “eventful one” with the second wave of COVID-19 at the start, along with chip shortage and rising commodity prices posing challenges. The semiconductor shortage has been a major factor in production, not just for Maruti but also for other players in the automotive industry, he said adding the increase in the prices of commodities also impacted the pricing of products. On the export front, Bhargava said, “What is significant is that our export earnings are about USD 880 million whereas what we import now has come down to USD 350 million.” Partly, this reduction is because of the company paying all its royalties to parent Suzuki in rupee terms, he said adding the company expects to maintain the export level in the ongoing fiscal. On new product launches, he said due to COVID-19, the company had very few new product launches but this year there will be a “number of launches” happening throughout the year. Already the company has introduced the new versions of its multipurpose vehicles Ertiga and XL6. On the possible impact of the pandemic going forward, Bhargava said it is “unlikely to be any significant part of our gameplan in the future”. He said the company’s board has approved expanding the Manesar plant capacity by 1 lakh units at an investment of Rs 161 crore and will be completed by April 2024. At present, the plant has an installed capacity of 8 lakh units annually. For FY23, Maruti Suzuki has earmarked capex of little over Rs 5,000 crore for various activities, company CFO Ajay Seth said. The company said its Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 60 per share (face value of Rs 5 per share) compared to Rs 45 per share in FY 2020-21, as a “special one-time gesture to thank shareholders for their patronage and support as the company commemorates its 40th year since inception”. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.