By Anuradha Himatsingka
OUR BUREAU/KOLKATA: Eveready Industries India has posted a 35 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 18.35 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, compared with Rs 13.56 crore in the same period last year.
Revenue from operations during the quarter under review grew by 7 per cent to Rs 383.33 crore as against Rs 357.66 crore in the same period last year. The company, however, maintained that revenue for the quarter ended June 2018, which is reported net of GST, is not comparable to the year-ago period, which had components of excise duty and other indirect taxes.
On a sequential basis, the company saw its profits improve. It had reported a net loss of Rs 16 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. “This growth has to be seen in the context of a lower base last year, wherein both turnover and profit were impacted adversely in the run-up to GST implementation. The results are also a significant improvement over the immediately sequential quarter,” the company said in a note to the BSE on Thursday.
However, all business segments have now come out of uncertainties associated with GST implementation and are trending towards near-normal volume growth, it said. The EBIDTA margin for the quarter was at 10.1 per cent, up from 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.
“This improvement in margin is significant in the context of the fact that it was despite the adverse impact on account of withdrawal of fiscal benefits at the Haridwar unit, the sudden rise in commodity prices and sharp devaluation of the rupee,” the company said.
Eveready Industries is the countrys largest dry cell battery maker. It is also into marketing flashlights, packet tea, general lighting products, small home appliances and confectionery. The company expects the batteries and flashlights markets to grow in expectation of a normal monsoon. This, coupled with the current softer zinc prices, should restore higher levels of profitability in these segments despite a weakening rupee, it said.
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