Exide Industries Q3 profit surges over 7% to Rs 240 crore

Exide Industries Q3 results: Battery manufacturing company Exide Industries’ standalone profit jumped 7.5 per cent to Rs 240 crore in the quarter-ending December (Q3FY24), from a little over 223 crore in the same quarter a year ago (Q3FY23).

The company’s top line rose 12.6 per cent to Rs 3,840.5 crore in Q3FY24, from Rs 3,412 crore during the same period last year. 

On December quarter performance, Subir Chakraborty, MD & CEO said, 'It was another quarter of strong performance, with sales and operating profits growing by 13 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. Demand was positive in both automotive and industrial divisions, and we achieved healthy growth in our key end-customer markets."

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), also known as operating profit, zoomed 10 per cent annually to Rs 440 crore, as against Rs 400 crore in Q3FY23. However, its margin contracted 20 basis points (bps) to 11.5 per cent in the December quarter, from 11.7 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

"Higher raw material prices during the quarter led to margin pressures, though lower fixed costs restricted the impact to some extent,” Exide Industries said.

During the current quarter, the company invested Rs 730.01 crore as equity in the wholly owned subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions Limited (EESL). Exide's investment in EESL through the equity route is worth Rs 1,820.01 crores till December 2023.

“We are optimistic about the future and are witnessing signs of demand pick-up across key verticals. Input cost inflationary pressures have started easing, which coupled with our cost optimisation initiatives is expected to support margins. We will continue to focus on delivering healthy sales growth and improvement in profitability levels in the near-to-medium term,” Chakraborty added.

The shares of the company were trading 1.24 per cent higher at Rs 318.35 per share, as of 1:29 pm.