Eveready Industries, the country’s largest dry-cell battery maker, saw an over 25 per cent decline in standalone net profit to ₹18.38 crore for the quarter ending September 30, 2019. Net profit in the year-ago-period stood at ₹24.66 crore. According to the company, the year-ago-period saw a windfall credit of approximately ₹5 crore that was on account of reversals for wage provisions of its closed Chennai manufacturing unit.

Since there has been no such windfall this quarter, profitability was lower.

Total income during the quarter under review was ₹365 crore, down by 7 per cent, year-on-year. The turnover in lighting segment dipped 20 per cent dip to ₹63 crore, while in the appliance segment, it stood at ₹15.5 crore, down 41 per cent.

Lower income

According to a press release issued by Eveready, the income was lower than the year-ago-period because of “weak consumption demand” and discontinuance of the packet tea segment. The packet tea business was sold to Madhu Jayanti International for a consideration of ₹6 crore.

“However, core categories of batteries and flashlights did not degrow in the quarter (July-September).

“The segment of lighting and appliances was significantly affected because of supply constraints and price corrections that had to be taken to augment demand,” it said in the release.

In fact, EBITDA margin for the battery segment was 21 per cent, primarily on account of reduced implementation of quality standards and reduced imports from China. Flashlights had a margin of 17.8 per cent.

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