Kabra’s battery-led profit recovery comes with Rs. 131-crore cash outflow

Kabra Extrusiontechnik’s battery business has driven a return to profit, but its half-year accounts show a substantial cash requirement behind the revenue expansion.

Consolidated September-quarter revenue reached Rs. 220.96 crore, against Rs. 134.60 crore a year earlier. Net profit increased to Rs. 3.97 crore from Rs. 0.33 crore. For the half year, revenue was Rs. 345.45 crore and profit Rs. 2.23 crore, compared with a Rs. 7.28-crore loss in the corresponding period.

The accompanying release identifies Geon as the principal growth business, contributing approximately Rs. 165.9 crore, or 75% of quarterly revenue. The segment table shows battery profit of Rs. 13.20 crore, while extrusion machinery recorded a small quarterly segment loss on revenue of Rs. 55.01 crore.

Cash conversion presents a less comfortable picture. Consolidated operating activities used Rs. 131.13 crore during the half year. Trade receivables rose to Rs. 172.79 crore from Rs. 79.99 crore at March-end, while inventories increased to Rs. 354.07 crore from Rs. 286.16 crore. Current and non-current borrowings together rose to approximately Rs. 323.25 crore from Rs. 141.09 crore.

The release describes a Rs. 141-crore preferential issue; the period’s cash-flow statement records Rs. 59.50 crore of share-application money pending allotment. These represent different disclosures and should not be treated as identical cash receipts.

Geon reports commissioning 20 MW/40 MWh of Rajasthan storage projects and providing integration services for Khavda’s 2.88-GWh first phase. Customer programmes in India and Vietnam include letters of intent or nomination, rather than disclosed realised sales.

The board also appointed Mahaboob Ali Khan to succeed retiring extrusion CEO Yogesh Deo from October 23. Separately, a July flood disrupted the Daman facility; insurance recovery remains under assessment. The earnings recovery therefore accompanies financing, execution and recovery exposures that remain visible in the accounts.