August 2, 2024: India’s battery maker Exide Industries on July 30 announced in a regulatory filing that its profit after tax had increased 15.6% to Rs280 crore (Rs2.8 billion/$33.5 million). for its first quarter ended June 30, 2024. Analytics from data firm LSEG said this missed market expectations of Rs331 crore of profits.

This compares with a profit after tax of Rs242 crore in the same period the year before.

Exide’s revenue from operations rose to Rs4,313 crore for the June quarter compared to Rs4,073 crore in the year-ago period, Exide Industries said in a regulatory filing.

One main negative factor weighing on the firm was the price of lead which had spiked during the quarter. However, Exide, which earns two-thirds of its revenue from sales of its automotive batteries benefited from a strong uptick in car sales.

“Both automobile and industrial verticals have delivered growth in the current quarter, and near-term drivers are promising,” Exide Industries CEO Avik Roy said.

In April, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp Exide signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s Exide Energy Solutions Ltd to supply batteries for their electric vehicles in a bid to boost competitiveness in the world’s third largest car market.

The two firms said that the partnership aimed to localize their EV battery production in India, specifically focusing on lithium-iron-phosphate cells.