Amara Raja Batteries Limited has decided to take up yet another expansion project, on an outlay of Rs 440 crore.
The company’s board, based on third-quarter performance numbers, decided to augment capacities for the automotive 4-wheeler product lines over 16-18 months.
This investment is in addition to the already approved capital investment of Rs 340 crore for automotive batteries.
Monitoring costs
The company notched up a 23 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 80.91 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, against Rs 65.92 crore for the corresponding quarter last year.
The total income from operations was also up 24 per cent for the third quarter, at Rs 756.87 crore (Rs 612.39 crore).
Jaydev Galla, Managing Director of Amara Raja Batteries, said the company is keeping a close watch on cost increases due to power shortages and the power tariff hike, rising commodity and fuel prices and volatility in currency markets.
The company is confident of growth prospects and continues to invest in capacity and products.
K. Suresh, CFO, said the company enjoys debt free status with free cash of Rs 350 crore.
The capacity expansion programmes undertaken in last 12 months are progressing as per schedule.
The share closed the day at Rs 301.50, up 1.07 per cent.