Exide reports 25 pc rise in Q2 net profit

Kolkata, Oct 23: Exide Industries Ltd, India's largest lead acid storage battery maker, has achieved a year on year (yoy) net profit growth of 25 per cent for the quarter ended September 30.

At its Board meeting held on Thursday, Oct 23 to consider the unaudited results for the three months ended 30 September, the company reported a net profit of Rs 78 crore as against Rs 62 crore same period of the previous year. The net sales for three months of Rs 901 crore, also show a yoy growth of 35 per cent.

For the six months of the current financial year 08/09, the net sales of Rs 1,807 crore and the net profit of Rs 160 crore reflected a yoy growth of 36 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

Commenting on the satisfactory Q2 performance, Exide's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, T V Ramanathan said, "proactive steps taken during the last 12 months to secure a portion of raw materials from secondary lead indigenously available by acquiring lead smelting capacities coupled with an improved sales mix has ensured satisfactory growth despite the very challenging economic environment." The strong balance sheet and the very low Debt Equity Ratio would ensure the company meets its finance requirements for the ensuing quarters also in a cost effective manner, Mr Ramanathan added.

The recent softening of lead prices in the international market to some extent has been neutralized by the sharp depreciation of rupee against the dollar.

In the automotive battery segment, the growth in value terms for the six months ended 30 September 08 was 35 per cent. The lower volume growth in the OE business has been countered by a robust growth in the Replacement Trade Sales.

Under the industrial battery segment, the overall growth in value terms for the half year was 40 per cent. Telecom and Power sectors underpin this value growth. Exide's traction batteries continued to find ready export markets in the developed economies of Western Europe, South Africa, Korea, Japan and Australia.

UNI