Soon after its listing on major stock exchanges of the country, car market leader Maruti Udyog Ltd on Wednesday reported a hefty 971.3 per cent growth in net profit during the first quarter this fiscal.

Net profit stood at Rs 123.2 crore (Rs 1.23 billion) during the quarter ended June 30, 2003 over Rs 11.5 crore (Rs 115 million) during the year ago period, a company statement said.

MUL lists at Rs 158.4 on BSE
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Total income went up by a robust 44.7 per cent to Rs 2,109.9 crore (Rs 21.10 billion) during the review period against Rs 1,457.5 crore (Rs 14.57 billion) during the corresponding period last year.

Profit before tax rose a whopping 735.7 per cent to Rs 175.2 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) during the April-June quarter this year over Rs 21 crore (Rs 210 million) during the year ago period, the MUL release said.

In view of the listing of the company's shares last month, it was mandatory for MUL to publish quarterly results from the quarter ending September 30 this year, but Maruti decided to release unaudited financial results for the first quarter, MUL managing director Jagdish Khattar said.

Car sales of the company grew by about 47.4 per cent to 104,000 units during the first quarter, which includes 12,496 units of exports, a growth of 254.1 per cent over the quarter ended June 30, 2002.

MUL's marketshare increased to 55 per cent during the quarter under consideration from about 52 per cent during April-June 2002.

The company attributed the improved financials to higher sales and successful implementation of measures to enhance productivity and cut costs across the board.