Bajaj Electricals on Thursday reported a 19.07 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 40.59 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 34.09 crore in the corresponding period previous year, Bajaj Electricals said in a statement.

The total income during the third quarter of this fiscal also jumped by 18.75 per cent to Rs 689.51 crore from Rs 580.66 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

“This (last) quarter was a difficult quarter due to sharp increase in commodity prices. Despite this, our profitability performance has been satisfactory due to increase in sales, tight management of interest cost and effectively managing product pricing and margins,” Bajaj Electricals Chairman and Managing Director Mr Shekhar Bajaj said. The high commodity prices continue to be a cause of concern for the company, he added.

However, the shares of the company today closed 1.89 per cent down at Rs 217.55 a piece on the Bombay Stock Exchange.