Industrial and automotive battery-maker Amara Raja Batteries reported a 16 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 35.72 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, compared with Rs 42.57 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Net sales, however, increased 45.8 per cent to Rs 446.62 crore from Rs 306.37 crore in the same period.
The company stated that pricing challenges in the telecom segment had resulted in margin erosion. It expects the pricing and volume pressure to continue, especially in the telecom sector.
Meanwhile, the company’s board has approved capacity expansion of the automotive and two-wheeler battery units by 800,00 and 1.8 million batteries respectively at a cost of Rs 53 crore.
“We are happy with the Q1 performance as the results have been achieved in an environment of challenge in telecom and buoyancy in the automotive segments,” managing director, Jayadev Galla, said.