(Reuters) -Amara Raja Energy and Mobility, which makes the Amaron-branded car batteries, reported a bigger-than-expected drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday as weak demand from automakers and higher expenses hurt margins.
The Indian company reported a profit of 1.94 billion rupees ($22.2 million) in the April-June period, down 21% from 2.45 billion rupees a year ago.
Quarterly revenue rose 7% to 33.5 billion rupees, led by demand from customers replacing their batteries. However, expenses rose at a faster 10% pace.
Analysts at Motilal Oswal had flagged higher power costs for the company in a pre-earnings note.
The company which also produces industrial uninterruptible power supply units has struggled with weak sales to automakers at home over the last year.
The Hyderabad-based company is expanding into India’s small, but growing electric vehicle segment, with the establishment of a cell-making factory that is expected to begin operations by 2027.
It currently assembles battery packs that are used in EVs.
Last week, rival Exide reported a higher profit on the back of replacement demand and as it kept costs under control.
($1 = 87.5980 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)
