Exide profit rises 25.91% in Q1

Kolkata, July 18 (IANS) Battery major Exide Industries on Monday said it has posted a 25.91 per cent year-on-year increase in its net profit to Rs 196.05 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs 155.71 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.

Buoyed by improved demands for both automotive and industrial batteries, the company's net sales posted over 11 per cent growth at Rs 2,008.13 crore in the first quarter this fiscal compared with Rs 1,806.41 crore during same period last fiscal.

The company said Bharat D Shah took charge as its new non-executive chairman. Shah, currently the chairman of HDFC Securities, was on the board of Exide as an independent director.

"The board of directors is of the opinion that the company will immensely benefit under his chairmanship," the city-based battery maker said in a BSE filing after a board meet.

Shah assumed charge as the new chairman after Rajesh G. Kapadia resigned as chairman and non-executive director of the firm with effect from July 15.