Maruti Suzuki stock price, in anticipation of firework numbers, rose to a crescendo – hitting a new high today at Rs.6444; yesterday too, it had hit a new high at Rs.6424. But after the disappointing numbers, mainly on the margin front, the stock price slipped into the red – mind you, it did not crash or fall, it just “slipped”.

The company’s net profit for the quarter was up 16% (YoY) at Rs.1709 crore – much below most analysts estimates and the lowest profit reported by the company in the four quarters of FY17.

Revenue in fact surpassed all estimates, coming in at Rs.20,751 crore, up 20%. This is thanks t o the 15% growth in total sales volume at 4.14 lakh vehicles.

The bottomline was impacted mainly by higher raw material cost on account of increase in commodity prices – raw material cost was up 23.5%, excise duty outgo rose 22%; total costs were up 20%. The higher revenue momentum carried through into EBIDTA despite higher costs – operating profit was at 2538 crore, up 10% but margins fell 120 bps to 12.3%.

The company ended FY17 with a consolidated net profit at Rs.751 crore, up 36.5% and EPS was at Rs.249 (FV of Rs.5).