Exide Industries (500086) Q4 99/00 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY00 sales reached Rs 939.69 crore, crossing Rs 900 crore; production set a record at 6.5 million batteries.

• Profit before tax rose to Rs 55.14 crore from Rs 45.35 crore; net profit was Rs 48.89 crore versus Rs 39.86 crore.

• Domestic market leadership was maintained amid rising import competition, with growth across automotive and industrial batteries.

Financial highlights

• Sales were Rs 939.69 crore versus Rs 816.84 crore; gross profit increased 19.4% to Rs 94.73 crore from Rs 79.33 crore.

• Cash profit was Rs 88.48 crore versus Rs 73.83 crore; EPS rose to Rs 13.58 from Rs 11.40.

• Interest and finance costs were Rs 49.69 crore versus Rs 48.82 crore; depreciation and amortisation increased to Rs 39.59 crore from Rs 33.97 crore.

• Exceptional items totaled Rs 39.49 lakh, including VRS costs, ERP/Y2K expenditure and foreign-currency loan exchange fluctuation.

Outlook and guidance

• FY01 turnover was targeted to exceed Rs 1,000 crore; four-wheeler battery capacity planned at 4.3 million units and two-wheeler capacity at 2.1 million units.

• Small VRLA battery capacity for UPS applications was expected to nearly triple; Bawal, Haryana, was the ninth manufacturing site under development.

• Medium-term outlook described as positive for automotive and industrial batteries, with rural penetration, new applications and infrastructure deregulation as growth opportunities.