Eveready second quarter net profit jumps 73% on easing input cost

Battery and flashlight major Eveready Industries India Ltd (EIIL) on Tuesday reported a 73.5 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 25.44 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal on easing input cost.

The city-based company had posted a net profit of Rs 14.73 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Revenue from operation during the July-September quarter was lower by three per cent to Rs 364.9 crore as compared to Rs 375.7 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin improved to 12.7 per cent from 11.4 per cent in the second quarter of the 2022-23 fiscal.

Eveready Industries said the revenue performance was nearly flat owing to the distribution revamp, which is expected to normalise in the coming quarters.

Battery-operated flashlights continued to degrow despite healthy growth in rechargeable category, it said.

"Favourable trends in key raw materials and stability in exchange rate created suitable conditions for margin expansion," the company said in a statement.

"Our emphasis to grow within our existing business mix saw us successfully execute a very complex route to market in our distribution structure," Eveready Industries Managing Director Suvamoy Saha said.

The initial moderation in uptake in batteries is expected to resolve in the coming quarters as stocks get replenished via more efficient pathways, he said.

In its revamp journey with the new management under the Dabur family, Eveready has also unveiled a new logo and a tagline, aiming at wooing the new generation of consumers.