New Delhi, July 26 (IANS): Passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday reported a rise of 23 per cent in its net profit for the first quarter (Q1) of 2016-17.

The company's net profit stood at Rs 1,486.2 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 - up from Rs 1,208.1 crore in the corresponding period of 2015-16.

"The profit in the quarter was helped by a higher turnover, material cost reduction, higher non-operating income and lower depreciation," the automobile manufacturer said in a statement.

"Adverse foreign exchange movement reduced profits to some extent."

The passenger car major's net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 14,654.5 crore -- up 12.1 percent from Rs 13,078.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Maruti Suzuki sold 348,443 vehicles during the quarter under review, logging a growth of 2.1 per cent over the similar period of the previous fiscal. 

The company's sales in the domestic market grew by 5.4 per cent to 322,340 units. However, exports during the quarter plunged by 26.7 per cent to 26,103 units. 

"The growth in the first two months of the quarter had been 10.2 per cent but the unfortunate incident of fire at a key vendor of the company resulted in lower sales in June 2016," the statement said.

"The company hopes to recover the lost sales during the course of the year."