Eveready Industries has reported a 205 per cent rise in profit before tax and exceptional items in the fourth quarter on the back of an expansion in the gross margin.

The maker of battery, flashlight and appliances recorded a profit before tax of Rs 16.74 crore compared with Rs 5.48 crore in the same period of 2018-19.

Backed by a Rs 62.04-crore profit booked from the sale of a plot of land in Hyderabad, profit after tax in the fourth quarter jumped to Rs 63.73 crore from Rs 4.05 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Operating income, however, was expectedly down as business was hit by the pandemic in March. From Rs 311.72 crore recorded in the January-March quarter of 2018-19, income was down 28 per cent to Rs 224.20 crore in the last quarter.

During the Covid-19 related disruption alone, turnover in the quarter was down by Rs 60 crore. Overall profitability, however, was better than the year-ago period because of a 700-basis-point expansion in the gross margin, mainly in the core battery and flashlight segments and EBIDTA margin expansion of nearly 900 bps due to additional cost savings measures, EIL said in a statement.

The discontinuance of the packet tea business further helped the company