India's Exide Industries misses Q1 profit view on higher costs

BENGALURU, July 28 (Reuters) - Indian lead-acid battery maker Exide Industries (EXID.NS) reported a smaller-than-expected rise in first-quarterly profit on Friday, hurt by high raw material costs and rising expenses.

The Kolkata-based company said its net profit after tax for the quarter ended June 30 stood at 2.42 billion rupees ($29.41 million), compared with 2.26 billion rupees.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 2.66 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Raw material costs \“remained firm\” during the quarter, and total expenses grew nearly 4% to 37.70 billion rupees, the company said in a statement.

\“We expect overall demand scenario to be positive in the near-term and profitability levels to increase, supported by easing of input cost inflation and further realisation of cost efficiency initiatives\”, Managing Director and Chief Executive Subir Chakraborty said in a statement.

The company, which has clients in the auto, industrial, telecom and railway sectors, reported a near 4% rise in its revenue from operations to 40.73 billion rupees.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margins expanded 10.6% from 9.9% a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing.

Auto parts suppliers in the country have benefited during the April-June quarter from demand for new models and festive season.

Exides shares have gained 33.01% in the quarter but fell 2.9% after the results were announced.

($1 = 82.2881 Indian rupees)