Amara Raja Batteries Limited Net Profit zooms 37% during FY20.
Strong performance across replacement market segments overcomes challenges due to demand compression in auto OEM and Telecom sectors.
Hyderabad, May 31, 2020: Amara Raja Batteries Limited, India’s leading Industrial and Automotive Battery major (BSE: 500008 & NSE Code: AMARAJABAT), today, reported a Net profit of Rs 660.82 crores for the year 2019-20 registering an impressive 37% growth over the previous year (Rs 483.49 crores). Revenue for FY20 stood at Rs 6,839.46 crores as compared to Rs 6,793.11 crores during FY19. The Earnings per Share (EPS) for FY 2019-20 was at Rs 38.69.
The Company reported for the Jan-Mar quarter a revenue of Rs.1,581.39 crores (Rs 1,566.73 crores) and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 136.65 crores (Rs 119.34 crores) The Earnings Per Share (EPS) for Q4 FY 20 was at Rs 8.00
For the quarter and year ended March 31, 2020 (Rs. in crores)
| Particulars | Quarter ended | Year ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2020 | March 31, 2019 | March 31, 2020 | March 31, 2019 | |
| Net Revenue from operations | 1,581.39 | 1,566.73 | 6,839.46 | 6,793.11 |
| Profit After Tax | 136.65 | 119.34 | 660.82 | 483.49 |
Automotive Business Division has substantially overcome the demand slowdown in Auto OE segment aided by significant traction in volume growth in domestic replacement market and exports under challenging market conditions. In spite of market disruptions towards the year end due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown restrictions, both the automotive brands, AMARONTM and POWERZONETM, continued strong growth momentum across vehicle segments. However, growth in home UPS segment has been moderate as the seasonal demand for inverter batteries was severely impacted by the lockdown restrictions in March.
Despite the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the year-end sales and demand compression in telecom sector during the year, the Industrial Battery Business has improved its performance in FY20. This was achieved through efficient after sales service, customer relationship management and consistent product performance of its flagship brands PowerStack®, Quanta® and QRS Series, Amaron Volt® batteries. The UPS Business continued to grow on the back of strong performance in the Data Centre Market. The Quanta® HWS series batteries became the preferred battery for all the major UPS OEM’s. The volumes grew in all other segments of the business, barring the Telecom segment. Export sales in Industrial battery division sustained momentum registering strong growth in Middle east and Africa while South East Asia sales have been subdued.
Mr. Jayadev Galla, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Amara Raja Batteries Limited said, “FY20 saw us performing strongly against odds in the overall business environment and helped us emerge stronger. The automotive sector is dealing with a lot of challenges due to regulatory changes, technology shifts and demand uncertainty due to COVID-19 lockdown. However, accelerated digital adoption and increased data usage by public during the lock down period also resulted in silver lining in telecom sector after many years of uncertainty and demand slow down. It is early to comment on the medium and long term impact of the overall health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19. We are closely monitoring the emerging situation and have put in place robust risk management and agile response mechanism to recalibrate our strategic growth plans.”
Commenting on the Q4 performance, S. Vijayanand, CEO, Amara Raja Batteries Limited said, “ARBL’s category leadership, continued focus on innovation and strong customer portfolio, position us well for 2020 and beyond. The company has taken up many initiatives to deal with the global health crisis caused by COVID-19. All essential product and service delivery to key customer segments were carried out uninterrupted during the lock down phase. The company’s strong cash flows and healthy liquidity position is of great support to navigate the current crisis.”
He also added that “A complete set of new Standard Operating Procedures are designed and put in place across work locations to safe guard employee health and safety. The company returned to partial operations during the month of May and continue to ramp up production, sales and service activities in the recent weeks. We would like to appreciation and gratitude to employees, customers, channel partners, suppliers and all other stake holders for their commitment and support in dealing with the current challenges.”
Amara Raja Batteries Limited is the technology leader and one of the largest manufacturers of lead-acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian storage battery industry.
In India, Amara Raja is the preferred supplier to major telecom service providers, Telecom equipment manufacturers, the UPS sector (OEM & Replacement), Indian Railways and to the Power, Oil & Gas, among other industry segments. Amara Raja’s industrial battery brands comprise PowerStack®, AmaronVolt® and Quanta®. The Company is a leading manufacturer of automotive batteries under the brands Amaron® and PowerzoneTM, which are distributed through a large Pan-India sales & service retail network.
The Company supplies automotive batteries under OE relationships to Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, and Tata Motors. The Company’s Industrial and Automotive Batteries are exported to countries in the Indian Ocean Rim.
Some of the statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements include our financial and growth projections as well as statements concerning our plans, strategies, intentions and beliefs concerning our business and the markets in which we operate. These statements are based on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update these statements as circumstances change. There are risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from these forward looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the level of the market demand for our products, the highly competitive market for the types of the products that we offer, market condition that would cause our customers to reduce their spending for our products, our ability to create, acquire and build new businesses and to grow our existing businesses, our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, currency fluctuations and market conditions in India and elsewhere around the world, and otherwise not specifically mentioned herein but those that are common to industry.