The country’s largest dry-cell battery maker, Eveready Industries Ltd, reported a near 31 per cent drop in net profit to ₹25 crore for the quarter ending September 30, 2018. The net profit in the corresponding quarter last fiscal stood at ₹36 crore.
During the quarter under review, the company saw its operating income decline by 4 per cent, year-on-year to ₹383 crore. Operating income in Q2FY18 stood at ₹398 crore.
Turnover from key verticals such as batteries reported a drop, while lighting and flash light sales remained flat, the company said in a release.
Lighting sales volume were down because of supply issues with a vendor; while GST restocking in Q2FY18 led to a surge in sales in the year-ago period.
The company’s appliance business, despite a 30 per cent jump in turnover on a year-on-year basis to ₹26 crore, reported an EBITDA loss of ₹6 crore.
Eveready’s packet tea business continued to be in a loss of ₹2 crore.