Suzuki quadruples FY 2009 profit forecast on India sales

Suzuki Motor Monday revised upward its operating profit forecast for this year at 40 billion yen (USD 444.22 million), a four-fold increase from a previous target, buoyed by booming sales in India.

The revision comes despite the firm witnessing 63.4 per cent decline in bottomline in the first half of this fiscal to 12.5 billion yen (USD 138.83 million) from 34.23 billion yen (USD 380.11 million) in the year-ago period due to weak sales.

Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC), which owns a majority stake in India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), had earlier forecast operating profit at 10 billion yen (USD 111.05 million).

The small car major said its operating profit in Asia increased in the first six months of this fiscal due to strong performance by the Indian subsidiary.

SMC said its sales in Asia during the period stood at 363.1 billion yen (USD 4.03 billion), against 416.3 billion yen (USD 4.62 billion), down 12.78 per cent on account of yen appreciation.

"...but Maruti Suzuki India posted higher sales than those for the consolidated cumulative second quarter of the previous fiscal due to good sales of the new models, including A-Star and Ritz," it said.

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