Exide Industries Posts Muted Q4FY13 Numbers

Exide Industries, one of the best known companies in the business of batteries in India, posted a net profit after tax of Rs 145.5 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. This is up by 2.77% from the same quarter last year and up by 40% on a sequential basis. This has exceeded street estimates, but that has nothing to do with a better operational performance. What helped the company to post such a healthy net profit was an increase in other income (more than two fold increase) during the same period. The other income posted by the company for Q4FY13 was Rs 30.43 crore against Rs 14.78 crore for Q4FY12 and Rs 12.23 crore for Q3FY13. 

The total income of the company, however, saw a muted growth of a mere 7% on a yearly basis. The company's topline has increased from Rs 1468.89 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to Rs 1571.63 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. The slack automotive sector led to lower volumes growth of the company's product. There was a decline in the original equipment business in the four-wheeler segments and less-than-expected growth in the two-wheeler segment. 

Even the industrial strategic business that accounts for 40% of the company's revenue did not grow on expected lines owing to the lack of demand from the infrastructure sector.   

The EBITDA margins of the company declined by 1.4% on a yearly basis, largely on account of an increase in employee expenses, change in inventory and increase in other expenses. Nonetheless, the raw material cost of the company declined from 68% of sales in Q4FY12 to 57% of sales in Q4FY13 mainly because of the fall in commodity prices.

The company has completed the acquisition of the ING Vysya Life insurance in the last quarter through internal recourses and continues to remain debt free. For FY14, the company has planned a total capex of Rs 250 crore that will be spent on capacity augmentation for industrial batteries and modernisation.