Exide Industries Ltd. has reported a net profit of Rs. 461 crores on a net turnover of Rs. 5,107 crores for 2011-12. For the fourth quarter of the financial year, the company’s net turnover and net profit were Rs. 1,446 crores and Rs. 142.51 crores respectively. Compared to the previous quarter the sequential growth in turnover is 16 per cent and the net profit sequential growth is 37 per cent.
The Board of Directors has announced a final dividend of Re 0.60 per share (par value of Re 1). Added to the interim dividend of Re 0.90 per share declared earlier during the year, this takes the total dividend payment for 2011-12 to Rs. 1.50 per share (par value Re 1), the same as the previous year.
Commenting on the quarter’s performance, the Managing Director and CEO, Mr. T.V. Ramanathan, said, “the financial results for the fourth quarter 2011-12 which shows a marked sequential improvement in the company’s performance as compared to the third quarter of the year is encouraging and augurs well for the current financial year”.
While sales improved 16 per cent, operating margin improved by 170 basis points as compared to the third quarter of the financial year under review. The company continues to remain debt-free.
The industrial batteries division in the fourth quarter had a volume growth of 15 per cent mostly contributed by inverters and VRLA UPS battery segments and 390 basis points improvement in the operating margins.
However, despite a volume growth of 6.6 per cent in SLI and 26 per cent in two-wheeler battery segments, due to lower realization from OEM customers, the overall operating margin of the automotive battery division was 150 basis points lower as compared to the previous quarter.
During the year under review lead prices continued to remain volatile, with prices softening towards the end of the year. However, a counter movement in the rupee-dollar exchange rate negated most of what was gained due to lead price softening.
During the quarter under review the company acquired inverter (Home UPS) manufacturing facilities to secure synergistic benefits with its inverter batteries so as to offer a complete solution to the problem of power cuts. The products have been well received by the market, and currently the production volume is being enhanced to meet the market demand. In addition, the company also signed technical assistance-cum-technical collaboration agreements with East Penn Manufacturing Company, Pennsylvania, to enhance the product quality at the battery manufacturing facilities and the two captive lead smelting plants.
The total capital expenditure during the financial year under review was Rs. 200 crores.