Mumbai, Jul 29 (IANS): Covid-19 pandemic dented the financials of automobile major Maruti Suzuki India, which suffered a net loss of Rs 249.4 crore during the first quarter of 2020-21.

According to the notes to the statement of standalone results, the company said that the financial numbers for Q1FY21 are not comparable with those for the previous quarters.

Maruti Suzuki India had reported a net profit of Rs 1,435.5 crore during the like period of the previous quarter.

"The company made a net loss of Rs 2,494 million in the quarter. It was partially off-set by lower operating expenses and higher fair-value gain on the invested surplus," the company said in the statement.

The automobile major registered a net sales of only Rs 3,677.5 crore. In Q1FY20, its net sales stood at Rs 18,735.2 crore.

"Owing to the global pandemic of Covid-19, it was an unprecedented quarter in the company's history wherein a large part of the quarter had zero production and zero sales in compliance with a lockdown stipulated by the government," the statement said.

"Production and sales started in a very small way in the month of May."

According to the company, the total sales stood at 76,599 vehicles during the quarter.

"Sales in the domestic market stood at 67,027 units. Exports were at 9,572 units," the statement said.