Exide profit down 25% in Sept quarter

Battery maker Exide Industries reported a 25 per cent decline in net profit at ₹136 crore for the quarter ended September 30, on account of higher expenses.

The drop in net profit was despite a 9 per cent rise in revenue from operations at ₹2,371 crore against ₹2,171 crore in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, net profit during the quarter came down by 28 per cent from ₹189 crore during the April-June 2017 quarter. Total expenses, during the period under review, increased by 11 per cent to ₹2,137 crore against ₹1,933 crore in the same period last year.

This apart, the company incurred expenses to the tune of ₹42 crore towards settlement of dispute with US-based Exide Technologies, in relation to the usage of the name or mark “Exide” in India, a press release issued by the company said.

The company, which was in discussion with Exide Technologies for an out-of-court settlement, had in May informed that it had entered into a settlement agreement with the Exide Technologies.

“Consequent to the exceptional item, profit before tax and profit after tax for the September quarter were lower,” the release said.

According to G Chatterjee, MD and CEO, volumes in automotive and motorcycle batteries improved significantly. There was also an encouraging growth in UPS, telecom as well as other infrastructure segments.

“However, rapidly increasing lead prices continue to be a major concern,” he noted.

Moving forward, the company will be focussing on cost control and technology upgradation to improve its bottomline, he said.

The board declared an interim dividend of ₹1.60 per equity share of ₹1 each for the financial year 2017-18.

The company's scrip closed at ₹209, up by 0.58 per cent, on the BSE on Wednesday.

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