BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by continuing strong sales of its sport utility vehicles.

The company, India's largest tractor-maker by sales, said standalone profit after tax rose 31.6% to 20.38 billion rupees ($244.06 million), beating analysts' estimates of 19.61 billion rupees as per LSEG data.

($1 = 83.5050 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Varun H K)