Suzuki quarterly profit jumps, lifts outlook

Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan's fourth-biggest carmaker, tripled its quarterly operating profit as sales soared in its main Indian market, and lifted its annual forecasts closer to market expectations.                                            

Suzuki, like South Korean rival Hyundai Motor Co, has been a major beneficiary of a global shift in consumer preference towards smaller cars, partly fanned by government incentives on purchases of environment-friendly cars.                                            

Its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki, India's top carmaker, said last month that its third-quarter net profit had more than tripled on improved sales. Suzuki holds 54.2% in Maruti and counts India as its single-biggest market.                                           

Suzuki, owned 19.9% by Germany's Volkswagen AG, reported a 17.99 billion yen ($201 million) operating profit for October-December, compared with a 5.78 billion yen profit a year earlier.                                            
 

The result fell a bit short of the average estimate of 19.40 billion yen from two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters IBES.                                           

Suzuki, known for its Swift and Alto hatchback cars, raised its operating profit outlook for the year ending in March to 50 billion yen from 40 billion yen.                                           

Consensus forecasts from 14 analysts put Suzuki's operating profit for the year at 65.91
billion yen.                                            

Prior to the announcement, Suzuki's shares closed down 2.1% at 2,031 yen, underperforming a 1.3% fall in Tokyo's transport equipment subindex.