Indian battery maker Exide misses Q3 profit view on sluggish car sales

Exide Industries

28/01/2025 12:42

Jan 28 (Reuters) - Indian battery maker Exide Industries
 EXID.NS  reported third-quarter profit below analysts'
estimates on Tuesday, hurt by sluggish vehicle sales.
   The company's standalone profit after tax rose 2% to 2.45
billion rupees ($28.3 million) in the October-December quarter,
falling short of analysts' estimate of 3.09 billion rupees,
according to data compiled by LSEG.
    Exide, which is one of India's biggest battery makers and
gets nearly 70% of its sales from automotive clients, has now
missed profit estimates for a third straight quarter.
    While battery replacements on automobiles remained strong,
demand from manufacturers of new vehicles was muted in the
quarter, the company said.
    Several auto parts makers, including battery manufacturers
like Exide, have relied on customers replacing older vehicle
parts with newer ones to offset the impact of slowing new car
sales.
    Car sales rose 4.5% in the December quarter, helped partly
by festive demand, albeit at a slower rate than the 8.3% growth
seen in the year-earlier period.
        Exide's revenues grew a mere 0.2% to 38.49 billion
rupees and fell short of analysts' average estimate of 44.39
billion rupees.
    Separately, Chief Executive Avik Roy said in a statement
that Exide's lithium-ion cell manufacturing project in Bengaluru
is expected to start commercial operations from fiscal year
2026.
    Exide's shares closed 1.3% lower ahead of results.

($1 = 86.5350 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Nandan Mandayam and Hritam Mukherjee in
Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
 ((Nandan.Mandayam@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile: +91 9591011727;))