Exide Industries net profit soars 54 per cent during 1st half

Kolkata, 18 October, 2006: Exide Industries Ltd today declared a gross turnover of Rs 1,133 crore and a net profit after tax of Rs 82 crore for the first half ended September 2006 thereby showing a 34 per cent rise in turnover and a whopping 54 per cent rise in net profit after tax compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. The first half result for the financial year 2006-07 was taken on record at the company’s board meeting held in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Earnings per share (Re 1 face value) during the period under review stood at Rs 1.10, compared to Re. 0.70 during the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

The rise in gross turnover and net profit during the second quarter of the current financial year stood at 34 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.

Commenting on the first half results, the company’s executive chairman and chief executive officer, Mr S.B.Ganguly said, "the galloping demand in both automotive and industrial segments of our market, coupled with improved production efficiency and tight leash on costs have helped us achieve yet another set of excellent financial numbers."

Talking about the future prospects of the company Mr Ganguly said, while fluctuating lead prices in the international markets remained a cause of concern, the healthy rise in demand across segments should keep the bottomline robust "We are looking at the possibilities of expanding our production capacities not only to meet the rising domestic demand but also for the foreign markets, especially In the Asia Pacific region."

The major quality initiatives that were undertaken by Exide in its plants across the country in the recent past have now started yielding results in the form of reduced costs and improved quality of its products.

the company managed to control its costs significantly through better working capital management. The eight factories of Exide Industries continued to operate at nearly full capacity resulting in better economies of scale. During the period under review the company’s automotive and industrial battery business both grew by close to 35 per cent in value terms.

During the second quarter the company announced plans to set up a new factory in Haldia, West Bengal dedicated to the export market for it industrial range of batteries. Work on the project is going on in full swing and the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year.

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords