(Reuters) – Indian battery maker Exide Industries reported a smaller-than-expected second-quarter profit on Monday, as muted demand from carmakers offset steady replacement demand, sending its shares to a five-month low.
Standalone profit after tax for the July-September quarter rose 3.8% to 2.98 billion rupees ($35.43 million), falling short of analysts’ estimate of 3.09 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Exide’s shares dropped as much as 4.6% to 437.80 rupees after the results were announced, hitting their lowest since June 4.
Exide is one of India’s biggest battery makers and gets nearly 70% of its sales from automotive clients.
But sales of cars to dealers fell for the first time in more than two years in the September quarter, as manufacturers moderated dispatches to help reduce high levels of unsold cars.
“Excess channel inventories… dampened demand” from automotive clients, the company said in a statement.
That led to a revenue miss, with Exide’s quarterly revenue of 42.67 billion rupees, falling short of analysts’ estimate of 44.39 billion rupees.
However, replacement demand – where customers replace older vehicle parts with newer ones – was “robust”, the company said.
Rival Amara Raja will report its second-quarter earnings later in the day.
($1 = 84.1050 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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