Strike-hit Maruti Suzuki's Q2 net down 5.4%

India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Tuesday reported a 5.4% year-on-year decline in its net profit for the July-September quarter, its fifth straight quarterly decline, as a month-long lockout at its Manesar factories, lower demand for its petrol cars and adverse foreign exchange fluctuation ate into the firm's profitability.

Maruti reported a net profit of ₹ 227.45 crore against ₹ 240.45 crore in the same quarter last year.

Its net sales, however, went up by 8.53% to ₹ 8,070.11 crore on the back of a robust demand for its maiden utility vehicle Ertiga and better export realisation.

Maruti's vehicle sales during the quarter fell by 8.7% to 230,376 units.

Its loss due to adverse foreign exchange movement was pegged at ₹ 350 crore for the quarter.

'The demand for petrol cars remained sluggish during the quarter and we had to sustain our momentum through discounts,' said Shinjo Nakanishi, MD and CEO, MSIL.

'There was a 20% de-growth in petrol cars sales while diesel cars grew by 40%.'

The company gave an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year indicating that there were signs of a revival in consumer sentiment.