Exide Industries Q4 net up 61.53% at Rs 63cr

New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) Exide Industries Ltd today said it has recorded an increase of 61.53 per cent in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2008 to Rs 63 crore as compared to Rs 39 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The company said in a statement that its Q4FY08 gross turnover rose 50 per cent to Rs 1008 crore from Rs 672 crore in the same period a year ago.

Its net profit for the FY08 increased 61 per cent to Rs 250 crore while the gross turnover rose 51 per cent to Rs 3,606 crore.

The company also declared a dividend of 40 per cent.

Commenting on the rise in profitability despite high input costs, particularly lead which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the costs, MD and CEO T V Ramanathan said, "The wildly fluctuating cost of lead in the international markets remains a cause of concern for us.'' ''However, during the year we could successfully introduce the concept of price escalation clause for most of our institutional customers in industrial batteries, which already existed in the automotive OEM segment. This protected us from the fluctuation in lead prices to a large extent,'' he added.

The company captured 62 per cent market share in the organised sector of automotive batteries industry, and recorded 71 per cent growth rate in the telecom sector, the statement added.

The production of batteries for industrial applications rose from nearly one billion amp to nearly 1.2 billion amp during the year, it added.

UNI SG AK KP1944