Maruti Suzuki India, the largest passenger cars maker in India, on Thursday posted a rise of 21% in net profit for the first quarter. The company reported net profit of Rs. 7.62 billion for the first quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs 6.31 billion in the same period last year.

Net sales of the company increased by 16.8% to Rs 116.74 billion during the period against Rs. 99.95 billion in April-June 2013, the company said.

The company sold 2,70,643 units of vehicles during this period, up 10% against 2,45,346 units during the same period last year.

'The company’s cost reduction and localisation initiatives, growth in volumes and favourable foreign exchange helped improve the bottomline during the quarter,' it said.

Shares of the company declined Rs 35.35, or 1.39%, to trade at Rs 2,516.55. The total volume of shares traded was 100,720 at the BSE (3.11 p.m., Thursday).