Batteries and flashlights maker Eveready Industries India Ltd on Tuesday, posted a stable set of Q1 earnings. The company reported a 21 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 30.13 crore in the first quarter ended June 30. It had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 24.99 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. The battery, flashlight and led segments saw pent-up demand but appliances business remained muted.

Eveready has appointed its former Chief Financial Officer Suvamoy Saha as the Joint Managing Director, to increase professional depth in the management. This post was solely enjoyed by the Khaitan family earlier.

Amritanshu Khaitan, Managing Director of Eveready Industries India Ltd, said, “The company is also going to look at exploring other FMCG products, which it can put through the distribution network. So with the management bandwidth being limited only with me being at the helm, it was felt that it would be good to bring in a joint managing director in the company, basically to focus on new growth avenues and also to leverage the current assets of the company to go forward.”

He said, “On adding FMCG products, first step is that we have done a joint venture with the Wings Group. They have already test marketed detergents in three to four states of the country. The plan is to first scale that across India in the coming year or two, they will also look at adding more FMCG products through the joint venture. The company on its own will also evaluate some more synergy of products apart from lighting and appliances, which can be put through the network. So we are creating a roadmap, where basically we are looking at Eveready growing much higher. We are looking at using battery and flash light as a cash generator for fuelling growth, going forward.”

When asked about supply chain in the electric vehicles (EV) space, Khaitan said, “Eveready is in the consumer battery space which is a traditional battery space. We have not gone into the EV segment, we do not have the expertise for the EV segment as of now.”

On Burman family, he said, “The Burman family holds a substantial stake in the company. They have not approached us for board seat or for coming into the management. They had publicly stated that they believe in management to be professionally run and we value their investment.”

(With inputs from PTI)

For full management commentary, watch the video.

(Edited by : Dipika)