Maruti Suzuki , India's biggest carmaker, lagged estimates with a 23 percent fall in fiscal first-quarter profit, its fourth consecutive quarterly profit decline, as a weak local rupee currency pushed up costs.
Maruti, 54.2 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp <7269.T>, said net profit fell to 4.24 billion rupees for the three months to June from 5.49 billion rupees a year earlier.
"Adverse currency movements, notably the Yen-rupee exchange rate, impacted profits negatively," Maruti, which imports many components from Japan, said in a statement.
Net sales for the quarter rose 27.5 percent to 105.3 billion rupees from a year earlier.
Analysts expected a net profit of 4.85 billion rupees for the quarter on revenue of 101.10 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Maruti faces months of supply woes and a slump in market share and sales as a lockout at a key factory enters its second week after violent clashes between workers and management left one company official dead.
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The shutdown at the Manesar plant threatens a replay of a dismal 2011 when labour unrest battered the company's sales, market share and profit.
The results released on Saturday are for the three months to end-June, and as such are not affected by the shutdown.
The latest labour problems add to Maruti's woes at a time when it is fighting an industry-wide slowdown in sales as the Indian economy grows at its slowest pace in nine years, while a weakening rupee has made it even worse for an industry that depends on imports for key raw materials.
Maruti shares, valued at $5.8 billion, are down more than 9 percent since it announced the shutdown of the Manesar plant on July 18. The stock closed 0.4 percent higher on Friday, underperforming a 1.1 percent rise in the broader market.