Exide Industries reports 11% hike in Q4 net profit

Kolkata, April 30 (IANS) Battery major Exide Industries on Tuesday reported a 11 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 211 crore for the fourth quarter of 2018-19 (FY19) as compared to Rs 190 crore in corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.Net turnover for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, was at Rs 2,598 crore, up by about 6 per cent from Rs 2,459 crore during the year-ago period.Exide's MD & CEO G. Chatterjee said that volumes in automotive batteries as well as in UPS, solar and other Infrastructure segments continued to grow during the fourth quarter.The company is focusing on "cost control and technology upgradation" as strategies to improve the bottom-line, he said.The Kolkata-headquartered company posted a net profit of Rs 844 crore in FY19, compared to RS 668 crore in the previous fiscal, inclusive of 'exceptional items' reported in both the years and it reported a net turnover of Rs 10,588 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, as against Rs 9,186 crore in 2017-18.The company's board of directors have recommended final dividend of Re. 0.80 (80 per cent) per each fully paidd-up equity share of Re 1 of the company.Its board has re-appointed Chatterjee as MD & CEO for a further period of two years with effect from Wednesday.Subir Chakraborty has been appointed as Deputy Managing Director for 2 years, while Arun Mittal is appointed as 'Director-Automotive' for 5 years with effect from May 1.
--IANS bdc/vd