Mumbai, Oct 18: Exide Industries Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 43.74 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 as compared to Rs 29.08 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, a rise of 50.41 per cent.

Announcing the results, the company said its total income (net of Excise&Sales tax) has increased from Rs 338.96 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 to Rs 453.58 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2006.

Commenting on the first half results, company executive chairman and chief executive officer S B Ganguly said, ''the galloping demand in both automotive and industrial segments of our market, coupled with improved production efficiency and tight leash on costs have helped us achieve yet another set of excellent financial numbers.'' Talking about the future prospects of the Company, Mr Ganguly said while fluctuating lead prices in the international markets remained a cause of concern, the healthy rise in demand across segments should keep the bottomline robust. ''We are looking at the possibilities of expanding our production capacities not only to meet the rising domestic demand but also for the foreign markets, especially in the Asia Pacific region.''

UNI