Amara Raja Q2 net up 62%

Amara Raja Batteries has reported 62% rise in net profit at Rs 20.62 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 compared with Rs 12.71 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, on the back of improved realisations and better operating parameters.

For the quarter ended June 30, net sales of the company rose 94% to Rs 256.17 crore compared with Rs 132.02 crore in the previous comparable quarter.

Good demand from telecom, UPS and after market segment fuelled our growth and we have shown consistent growth over the last 10 quarters with equal contributions from both industrial and automotive divisions, according to Jayadev Galla, managing director of the company.

Operating profit of the company was up 70% to Rs 34.17 crore from Rs 20.08 crore in the same period previous fiscal. Profit before tax stood at Rs 31.46 crore as against Rs 19.38 crore.

For the half year ended September 30, 2007, net profit of the company soared 74% to Rs 38.52 crore from Rs 22.13 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales stood at Rs 470.76 crore, up 83% over Rs 256.44 crore posted during the first half previous fiscal.

Improved realisations and better management of key operating parameters helped us to partially mitigate the adverse impact on account of steep increase in lead price. We will work to reduce the impact of lead price increase on our margins, he added.