Maruti Suzuki India's Q2 profit jumps 80% on SUV demand

BENGALURU, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Maruti Suzuki India (MRTI.NS), the countrys top carmaker by sales, on Friday reported a higher quarterly profit that smashed estimates, as strong demand for its sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and cooling input costs boosted margins.

The companys profit after tax for the three months to Sept. 30 rose to 37.17 billion rupees ($446.64 million) from 20.62 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected the maker of the Brezza and Baleno models to report a profit of 30.08 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

Maruti is the first of Indias listed carmakers to report results and benefit from a better share of sales from the revenue and margin-boosting SUVs, analysts have said.

Quarterly cost of materials consumed, or raw material costs, fell 7.4%.

Utility vehicles sales - which includes SUVs and the seven-seater Ertiga- comprised 32% of quarterly volumes, up from 16% a year earlier, sending revenue up 25% to 355.35 billion rupees.

The companys shares rose 2.7% to an intraday high of 10,703.25 rupees after the results.

($1 = 83.2210 Indian rupees)