• Exide net surges 34 per cent, top line grows to Rs 1135 crore

Kolkata, July 24, 2008: Exide Industries Ltd today declared 34 per cent growth in its gross turnover and 17 per cent growth in net profit during the first quarter of the financial year 2008-09, compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

The company’s Board met in the city on Thursday evening to adopt the financial results for the quarter April-June 2008. 

During the period under review, Exide Industries Ltd’s gross turnover grew to Rs 1135 crore (from Rs 848 crore during Q1 07-08) and profit after tax grew to Rs 82 crore (from Rs 70 crore during Q1 07-08).

Commenting on the performance, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr T.V. Ramanathan, said, “profit growth was affected by the depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis all major currencies. A depreciating rupee affects profitability since we import a sizeable part of our main raw material Lead. In view of the burgeoning inflation rates, we have to keep a very tight leash on costs over the next three quarters to keep the momentum of the first quarter going.”

If exchange gain / loss arising from Rupee appreciation / depreciation is excluded
the growth in profit for the quarter is 40%.

With the automotive segment showing less than buoyant growth rates in some of  the segments, the company’s industrial battery business, particularly in telecom and power sectors continued to show robust growth.

The automotive segment is expected to see a lot of excitement in the near future with the planned launches of a slew of new car models by a number of manufacturers. Virtually all these new launches from the auto giants will be powered by Exide batteries, not to speak of the much awaited Nano from the Tata Motors stable half of which will also run on Exide batteries.

During the period under review the company acquired 51 per cent stake in Leadage Alloys India Ltd, a Lead smelting and refining unit located near Bangalore. This is expected to give the company better control over the business of recycling of used Lead acid storage batteries and consequently meet the requirements set forth by the government in its Battery Handling and Management Rules. Its own smelting unit will also help Exide combat the rising Lead prices more effectively.

• Turnover rises 51 per cent to Rs 3606 crore
• Pays 40 per cent dividend and thus maintains uninterrupted dividend payment track record for 60 years
• Automotive battery production crosses 608 million plates
• Industrial battery production crosses 1169 million amp
• Dedicated facility for export market goes on stream 

Kolkata, April 22, 2008 : Exide Industries Limited today announced its annual results for the financial year 2007-08. While gross turnover rose 51 per cent to Rs 3606 crore for the 12 month period, net profit rose 61 per cent to Rs 250 crore, compared to the previous financial year.

For the fourth quarter (January to March 2008) gross turnover rose from 672 crore to 1008 crore, registering a growth of 50 per cent. Net profit during the quarter also grew in tandem from 39 crore to 63 crore, recording a growth of 62 per cent.

As a result of strong performance, the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) and Return on Net Worth(RONW) have improved to 35% and 40% respectively. Debt Equity Ratio has also improved to 0.35:1 at end March 2008.

The Exide Industries Limited Board which met today to adopt and approve the results declared a dividend of 40 per cent, thereby maintaining its record of uninterrupted dividend payment for 60 years.

Commenting on the rise in profitability despite high input costs, particularly lead which accounts for close to 70 per cent of the costs, MD & CEO,Mr T V Ramanathan said, “the wildly fluctuating cost of lead in the international markets remains a cause of concern for us. However, during the year we could successfully introduce the concept of price escalation clause for most of our institutional customers in industrial batteries, which already existed in the automotive OEM segment. This protected us from the fluctuation in lead prices to a large extent.”

During the year 2007-08, Exide Industries Limited also made its maiden foray into the business of lead smelting by acquiring a unit in Maharashtra. “With our own lead smelting unit in place, we are now in a position to have better control on recycling of used batteries which gives us a major edge over the unorganized sector,” Mr Ramanathan said.

“With the economy continuing to grow at the rate of over eight percent, the future of the lead acid storage battery industry looks promising. However, the rising inflation rate is an area of concern. Hopefully the concerted government efforts to rein in the rise in prices will bear fruit soon,” Mr Ramanathan said.

With 62 per cent market share in the organized sector of automotive batteries industry, Exide’s grip on the auto segment remained firm despite growing competition from new entrants.

In industrial battery segment also the company’s market share remained unchallenged. Exide’s growth rate in the telecom sector was particularly noteworthy showing a growth rate of 71 per cent. SBU industrial’s exports grew by 35 per cent.