Exide Industries, a leading Indian automotive battery maker, reported on Wednesday a modest increase in net profit to Rs 240 crore for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, compared to Rs 223 crore in the same period last year.
Higher raw material prices during the quarter squeezed margins, but the impact was partially offset by lower fixed costs.
The company's operating revenues, on the other hand, grew by 13% to Rs 3,841 crore during Q3 FY24 over the corresponding period of last year, when it reported Rs 3,412 crore.
"As a result of focused cost optimisiation initiatives undertaken by the Company, other expenses as a percentage of sales declined to 13.6% during the quarter from 14.3% in the same quarter of the previous year," the company said in a regulatory filing.
The company added that in the automotive division, the last few months have seen an uptrend in demand in both OEM and replacement markets. The uptick is broad-based, with most end-user markets showing signs of demand recovery.
Subir Chakraborty, MD and CEO, Exide Industries said, "Our lithium-ion cell manufacturing project is progressing as per scheduled timelines. Design and construction works are on track, and we are focusing on the onboarding of customers on the one hand and securing strong raw material supply-chain linkages on the other."