Maruti Suzuki, the country's top carmaker, reported a 6.7% drop in the first quarter (April-June, 2008-09) profit on Monday at Rs 465.8 crore against Rs 499.6 crore in the same quarter last financial year (2007-08), due to higher depreciation charge, royalty outgo and manufacturing costs. The company, in which Japan's Suzuki Motor Co. holds 54.2% stake, has opted for shorter depreciation cycles that led to increased provision of Rs 61.9 crore in this quarter. Profit came under pressure also due to higher royalty outgo to the Japanese parent as well as increased power and fuel costs. Changes in currency rate due to strengthening of the Yen against the rupee also hit the company's bottomline in the first quarter. Net sales revenue rose 20.9% to Rs 4,731 crore against Rs 3,913 crore in April-June 2007-08. Volumes were up 13.5% at 1.92 lakh units, though higher ad budget and discounts impacted the earnings. Maruti's bread-and-butter small car models have been facing competitive pressure from models like Hyundai's i10 and GM's Spark, though its new models like DZire sedan has helped it maintain volume growth.