Exide Industries Ltd reported 16 per cent decline in net profit to nearly Rs 104 crore in the October-December quarter when compared to the same period last year.

The company also announced that it has roped in US-based East Penn Manufacturing Co Inc, makers of ‘Deka' branded lead-acid batteries, as a technical collaborator.

Exide currently has technical collaborations with Japanese battery majors Furukawa and Shin-Kobe. The collaboration with Furukawa was inherited during the acquisition of Standard Batteries by Exide. Company sources suggest that the fresh arrangement with East Penn will be royalty-based and extremely useful in improving the quality, right from the lead-smelter to the product value chain.

In a press release issued here, Exide said that in addition to extending “technical assistance” to manufacture a wide range of automotive and industrial batteries, East Penn will also help the Indian major in improving upon the efficiencies of its captive smelters near Pune and Bangalore.

Results

On the declining profit, the company said that sales volumes of automotive batteries in both the OE (original equipment) and replacement segments remained “subdued” during the quarter barring the sole exception of two-wheeler batteries. The two-wheeler battery sales grew by nearly 20 per cent.

Though lead prices (in dollar terms) remained soft during the quarter, the gains were reportedly “more than” neutralised by the devaluation of the rupee against dollar.

On the brighter side, the company appears to have reaped maximum harvest of the power shortage in the country during the period by way of improved sales of inverter batteries, so as to push up the overall sales of industrial batteries.

Overall, Exide reported a 37 per cent decline in profit, to Rs 319 crore in the first nine months of 2011-12. Compared to a 75 per cent drop in profit in July-September 2011 quarter, the rate of decline in profit has been slower during the last quarter.

>pratim@thehindu.co.in

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