India's Maruti Q2 profit falls 60pc, more than forecast

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki, India's top carmaker, posted a wider-than-expected 60 percent fall in its quarterly profit, hit by a labour unrest and rising interest rates and vehicle costs that have hurt demand in Asia's third-largest economy.

Maruti, 54.2-percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said last week it had resolved the labour unrest at its plant in north India that had crippled production and sent sales tumbling.

Maruti said on Saturday net profit in its fiscal second quarter that ended on Sept. 30 dropped to 2.40 billion rupees ($49 million) from 5.98 billion rupees reported in the same period a year ago.

Shares in Maruti, which has a market value of $6.6 billion, have fallen nearly 21 percent this year, in line with a fall in rival Tata Motors shares but more than a 13 percent drop in the Mumbai market.