Exide FY07 consolidated net drops 6% to Rs 66cr

Exide Industries today reported a 6% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 66.41 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 70.61 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006.

According to a release issued by Exide to the BSE today, total income increased to Rs 1,987.92 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 from Rs 1,477.3 6 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006 .

The company, on a stand-alone basis, reported a net profit of Rs 38.51 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2007 when compared with Rs 25.89 crore in Q4FY06.

Total income increased to Rs 533.11 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 from Rs 384.94 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 .

The company posted a net profit of Rs 155.21 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 as against Rs 100.73 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006. Total income increased to Rs 1,879.70 crore from Rs 1,385.79 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006 .

Commenting on the results and rising input costs, particularly lead which accounts for close to 70% of the costs, executive chairman and chief executive officer S B Ganguly said: "The continued economic boom and steady rise in automobile population ensured a steady demand growth across virtually all the segments. However, the tight leash on costs helped us show profit growth."

On the issue of emerging domestic and international competition, Ganguly said: "A significant number of new cars that were launched during the year came exclusively fitted with our batteries. We are proud that we are the sole and exclusive supplier to Tata Motors and Toyota, among others."