The accounts for the fourth quarter and the fiscal ended March 31, 1999, were approved and taken on record at a board meeting held in Mumbai on Friday. The storage battery major recommended a dividend of 35 per cent on a pro-rata basis on the share capital of the company. The current share capital of the company stands at Rs 36 crore.

Commenting on the results, chairman and managing director SB Ganguly said, "the heartening results are in line with expectations and especially welcome amidst the air of despondency which ails the local industry. Our objective would be to consolidate our position further and maintain the good work done in the past one year."

The storage battery major reported a 69 per cent increase in its operating profit at Rs 79.33 crore. The PBT of the company rose by 74 per cent at Rs 45.36 crore in1998-99 as against Rs 26.11 crore in the previous fiscal.

The turnover of the company crossed the Rs 800-crore mark and closed at Rs 816.86 crore for the year 1998-99 compared to Rs 565.19 crore in the previous fiscal. The results for the current year took into account the operations of the manufacturing facilities acquired from the Standard Batteries Ltd effective from February 16, 1998.

The company's replacement sales grew substantially during the year. the company's products powered almost all new cars which have been introduced in India to include Hyundai Santro, Mitsubishi Lancer, Daewoo Matiz and the much-awaited Tata Indica. Motorcycle battery sales surged by 42 per cent over the earlier year. This was despite the fact that automobile industry registered negative growth for the same period.

Exports during the year 1998-1999 grew by almost 27 per cent.