Calcutta, April 21: Exide Industries Ltd, the stored energy solution provider, notched up a higher net profit in 2005-06, although the cost of raw materials had gone up as base metal prices, including lead, became costlier.

The company has reported a 30.34 per cent rise in earnings at Rs 100.73 crore on a net sales of Rs 1,761.08 crore last fiscal.

For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company’s net profit showed a growth of 42.09 per cent at Rs 25.89 crore, while sales after tax was up 24.73 per cent at Rs 490.78 crore compared with the corresponding previous period.

“The recent global trend of entry of pension funds and investment funds into base metal commodities as an investment option has led to an unprecedented rise in prices of metals like copper, zinc and lead. However, the company expects prices of lead to stabilise since the rise was not due to any fundamental demand supply mismatch,” said S.B. Ganguly, executive chairman and chief executive officer, Exide Industries.

Exide also maintained its uninterrupted dividend payment for 58 years in a row at 30 per cent.

The automotive battery business of the company has posted a steady growth in all segments, especially original equipment and after-market replacement businesses. Exide, with a market share of more than 75 per cent in the branded after-market replacement segment, registered a higher growth rate than the industry during the year under review.

“The superior financial performance is a result of a firm control over costs and improvement in productivity at all the eight factories, which negated the impact of rising raw material prices. The year also saw a steady demand growth in both automotive as well as industrial sectors,” Ganguly said.

The industrial battery segment of Exide Industries showed an impressive 18 per cent revenue growth during the year and a market share of more than 50 per cent. Sectors like telecom and power hold good prospects for the future, Ganguly added.

Geometric profit up

Geometric Software Solutions has registered a 32 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 10.67 crore for the quarter ended March 31 compared with Rs 8.09 crore in the year-ago period.

The company’s consolidated sales grew by 28 per cent to Rs 63.91 crore from Rs 49.9 crore.

GHCL net rises

GHCL, a leading soda ash producer, has posted a net profit of Rs 28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, an increase of 36 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

Net sales also registered a growth of 17 per cent at Rs 175 crore against Rs 150 crore in the first quarter last year.