Maruti Suzuki's Q4 net profit down three percent

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) Passenger car major Maruti Suzuki Saturday reported a decline of three percent in its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2011-12 which stood at Rs.639.8 crore.

The company had posted Rs.659.9 crore net profit in the corresponding quarter of 2010-11.

The company said that adverse currency movements had made a significant impact during the quarter under review.

"The company was able to largely offset it through localisation and internal cost control," the company said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki's net sales stood at Rs.11,486.4 crore in the quarter under review, up 17.2 percent from Rs.9,796.7 crore posted in the fourth quarter of 2010-11.

The automobile major's sales went up by 4.9 percent at 360,334 units in the January-March 2012 quarter from 343,340 units sold in the corresponding period of 2010-11.

For the full fiscal 2011-12, the company reported a decline of 28.6 percent at Rs.1,635.1 crore from Rs.2,288.7 crore for 2010-11.

"For the year, the company's bottomline was impacted by adverse currency movement and increased commodity prices," the statement said.

"The overall slowdown in the car market, including the skew towards diesel cars, also affected performance."

The company's board has recommended a final dividend aggregating to Rs.216.68 crore, which comes down to Rs.7.5 per share (for nominal value of Rs.5.00 per share).