Eveready Q4 net down by 27% to Rs 4 crore

Muted rural demand, Chinese imports impact bottom line; net sales rise a nominal 3%

Significant muted rural consumer demand and Chinese imports hurt both the topline and bottomline of Kolkata-based Eveready Industries Ltd (EIL), which posted a fall of 27 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 with net sales registering a moderate increase of just three percent.

During January-March 2016, EIL's net revenue stood at Rs 283 crore as compared to Rs. 275 earned during the corresponding timeframe of 2014-15. The net profit in the review period, however, fell to Rs 3.99 crore -- a decline of 27 per cent from its previous profit of Rs. 5.44 crore in the year-ago period.

Its operating EBITDA too took a hit which fell by 29 per cent from Rs. 19.29 crore to Rs. 13.73 crore in the period under consideration.

As per the company, the lower EBIDTA was also contributed in the current quarter by a one-time mark down of LED lamps held at higher cost as market prices came down.