Exide Industries Q2 Results: Net profit up 5% to Rs 246 crore

High input cost has kept Exide Industries' profitability under leash even as its revenue grew 13% year on year.

The storage battery maker on Friday reported a modest 5% rise in net profit for the September quarter at Rs 246 crore against Rs 234 crore seen in the year-ago period.

Profit before tax rose 4.8% to Rs 330 crore (Rs 315 crore earlier) on a revenue of Rs 3719 crore.

"High input costs continue to impact profits on a year-on-year basis," the company said. There was however a respite in input cost inflation sequentially, it said.

Its EBITDA margin, however, rose to 11% in the second quarter of the fiscal as compared with 9.9% in the preceding quarter.

The company said the demand scenario was upbeat, both in the replacement market and with the OEMs (original equipment manufacturer), thereby driving volumes.

"The Industrial vertical witnessed strong recovery compared to previous year, driven by pick-up in business activity," it said.