New Delhi: Automobile major Maruti Suzuki on Thursday reported a decline of 4.6 per cent in its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2018-19. According to the company, net profit in the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,795.6 crore as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The company cited factors such as adverse foreign exchange rates, commodity prices, depreciation and higher sales promotion expenses that dented its financial performance during the quarter.
However, cost reduction efforts were able to partially offset the negative impact.
In the quarter under review, the company sold 458,479 units, down 0.7 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
In the full fiscal, the company's net profit was lower by 2.9 per cent to Rs 7,500.6 crore compared to the same period previous year.
"The second SMG plant in Gujarat was commissioned leading to a higher depreciation expense," the company said in a statement.
"The overall market was slow and had to be supported by higher sales promotion expenses. This was partially offset by cost reduction efforts."
The company sold a total of 1,862,449 units, a growth of 4.7 per cent.
It has targeted a production and sales growth to be between 4 and 8 per cent for the ongoing financial year and has increased its CAPEX (capital expenditure) to Rs 4,500 crore for 2019-20.
The Board of Directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 80 per share of Rs 5 face value for 2018-19, same as the last year.