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MOTORINDIA
l
June 2012
Exide’s
charged-up performance
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 com-
pany’s net turnover and net
profit were Rs. 1,446 crores
and Rs. 142.51 crores re-
spectively. Compared to the
previous quarter the sequen-
tial 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 val-
ue of Re 1). Added to the in-
terim 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 per-
formance, 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 com-
pared 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 con-
tributed 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 seg-
ments, due to lower realization from
OEM customers, the overall operat-
ing margin of the automotive
battery division was 150 ba-
sis points lower as compared
to the previous quarter.
During the year under re-
view lead prices continued to
remain volatile, with prices
softening towards the end of
the year. However, a coun-
ter 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 ac-
quired inverter (Home UPS)
manufacturing facilities to
secure synergistic benefits
with its inverter batteries so
as to offer a complete solu-
tion 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 mar-
ket demand. In addition, the com-
pany also signed technical assist-
ance-cum-technical collaboration
agreements with East Penn Manu-
facturing Company, Pennsylvania,
to enhance the product quality at the
battery manufacturing facilities and
the two captive lead smelting plants.
The total capital expenditure dur-
ing the financial year under review
was Rs. 200 crores.
w
batteries
Mr. T.V. Ramanathan, Managing Director & CEO