NEW DELHI (TIP): Higher sales and cost reduction measures boosted the first quarter earnings of the country’s top carmaker Maruti Suzuki in a day when Osamu Suzuki, chairman of the company’s parent Suzuki, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Maruti’s profit, also aided by forex gains, rose 21% in the April-June’ 14-15 quarter at Rs 762 crore against Rs 632 crore in the same period of the last fiscal.

Net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 11,074 crore, up 11% against Rs 9,995 crore in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal. “We started the quarter with low consumer sentiments, high inflation and other economic factors that affected the economy last year. But consumer sentiment has changed after the elections and has turned positive,” chief financial officer Ajay Seth said in a conference call with analysts.

Maruti sold a total of 2.99 lakh vehicles in the first quarter, at a growth of 13%. Sales in the domestic market stood at 2.7 lakh units (up 10%) while exports grew by 39% at 29,251 units. The company said that cost reduction and localization initiatives, growth in volumes and favourable foreign exchange helped improve the bottomline during the quarter. There was “an impact of Rs 150 crore” in the first quarter due to forex gains, Seth said.