ARE&M

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Amara Raja Energy and Mobility AMAR.NS, which makes the Amaron-branded car batteries, reported a bigger-than-expected drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday as weak demand from automakers and higher expenses hurt margins.

The Indian company reported a profit of 1.94 billion rupees ($22.2 million) in the April-June period, down 21% from 2.45 billion rupees a year ago.

Quarterly revenue rose 7% to 33.5 billion rupees, led by demand from customers replacing their batteries. However, expenses rose at a faster 10% pace.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal had flagged higher power costs for the company in a pre-earnings note.

The company which also produces industrial uninterruptible power supply units has struggled with weak sales to automakers at home over the last year.

The Hyderabad-based company is expanding into India's small, but growing electric vehicle segment, with the establishment of a cell-making factory that is expected to begin operations by 2027.

It currently assembles battery packs that are used in EVs.

Last week, rival Exide EXID.NS reported a higher profit on the back of replacement demand and as it kept costs under control.

($1 = 87.5980 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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** Amara Raja Energy and Mobility AMAR.NS shares drop 3.8% to 189.5 rupees

** Battery maker's Q4 results: 27% profit drop; 10% climb in costs overshadows 6% revenue rise

** On avg, stock rated "hold" same as that of rival Exide EXID.NS - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, AMAR down nearly 13% vs EXID's around 7% slide

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of battery makers Exide Industries EXID.NS and Amara Raja Energy AMAR.NS jump as much as ~5% before easing to ~1% gains

** Central Board of Direct Taxes includes lithium-ion batteries used in EVs, hybrids as core auto parts, which, say analysts, will bring tax advantages and boost sector's investment appeal

** "Move is beneficial for battery makers and the EV sector as it is expected to provide greater tax certainty," says Elara Capital

** EXID and AMAR are down 12.4% and 11.1% in 2025 so far

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

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** Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS falls 3.4% to 997.7 rupees

** Co on Sunday reported drop in Q3 EBITDA margin to 12.4% from year-ago 15%

** Post earnings call, Morgan Stanley says battery maker's management seeing continued margin headwinds in Q4 from currency depreciation, fuel purchase agreements

** J.P. Morgan lowers valuation of co's cell business from 278 rupees/share to 199 rupees/share on delay in co's gigafactory commissioning

** Motilal Oswal cautious about potential returns from co's lithium-ion initiative

** At least six brokerages, including J.P. Morgan and Motilal Oswal, cut PT after earnings call - LSEG

** Stock rated "hold" on avg

** AMAR down ~17% YTD

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Indian battery makers rise as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says battery-related raw materials will be fully exempted from custom duties

** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS and Exide Industries EXID.NS up 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively

** Custome duty exemption proposed for cobalt powder and waste, scrap of lithium-ion battery, lead, zinc and 12 more critical minerals

** 35 additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing will be added to list of exempted capital goods

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru)

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By Nick Carey

VODERADY, Slovakia, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Northvolt's financial collapse has not entirely crushed Europe's dream of developing its own electric vehicle batteries but fulfilling it is likely to require Chinese cash and expertise.

InoBat CEO Marian Bocek's Slovakian start-up had to work hard to secure funding until China's fifth-largest battery maker Gotion 002074.SZ bought a 25% stake last year and formed a joint venture with InoBat to build European gigafactories.

On Friday, InoBat announced 100 million euros ($104 million) in Series C funding, taking its total raised to well over 400 million euros.

Coming just weeks after Northvolt's downfall, the investment shows European EV battery projects can still raise money.

But instead of an independent European industry, the norm in future may be joint ventures that likewise rely on China's low-margin EV battery dominance, according to interviews with a dozen executives, investors and analysts.

They cited the Gotion-InoBat Batteries (GIB) tie-up and a deal announced last week between Stellantis STLAM.MI and CATL 300750.SZ.

Battery startups are "just not the flavour of the month," said Lacie Midgely, a research analyst at UK investment bank Panmure Liberum. "Institutional investors are looking for strategic investors before they'll get on board."

In 2023, Hefei-based Gotion had around 150 gigawatt hours (GWh) of nominal battery capacity, enough to produce batteries for between 1.5 million and 2 million cars.

Morningstar analyst Vincent Sun forecasts it should hit 270 GWh in 2025 - dwarfing Europe's current capacity.

"It made a big difference that InoBat has a partner like Gotion on board," said Vikram Gourineni, executive director at Indian battery maker Amara Raja AMAR.NS, a lead investor in InoBat's Series C round. Amara Raja also participated in InoBat's Series B round and has signed a licensing deal for GIB battery technology.

Gourineni said high-profile failures by start-ups like Northvolt and Britishvolt have left automakers demanding proven scale "because they don't want to risk their EV programmes".

InoBat has a pilot production line making high-performance EV batteries in Voderady, near Bratislava, and will also be Gotion's "European face" for larger gigafactories, Bocek said.

"Investors look at us and see our big brother (Gotion) will ensure our cells get produced," Bocek told Reuters.

MAJOR BLOW

Sweden's Northvolt raised more than $10 billion but failed in its plans to mass-produce EV batteries and compete with China's experienced and deep-pocketed BYD 002594.SZ and CATL 300750.SZ.

That has left investors questioning other battery projects as the energy transition proceeds more slowly than expected.

At least eight companies have postponed or abandoned European EV battery projects this year, including joint venture ACC, led by Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE.

Europe's battery pipeline capacity out to 2030 has fallen by 176 GWh in 2024, according to data firm Benchmark Minerals.

But other projects are slowly gearing up.

France's Verkor, backed by customer Renault RENA.PA, has secured around 3 billion euros for a 16 GWh gigafactory in Dunkirk that will produce batteries for 300,000 EVs annually when completed around 2028.

Verkor must show it can deliver to Renault before a "significant number" of potential automaker customers sign up, CEO Benoit Lemaignan said, adding: "They are happy to interact with us, but they want to see the product first."

Britain's Ilika IKA.L will provide test EV battery cells in 2025 to 17 automakers and battery makers, including Tata Motors TAMO.NS unit Agratas.

Rather than building a gigafactory, Ilika wants licensing agreements to mass-produce its solid-state batteries, CEO Graeme Purdy told investors during an early December tour of its pilot production line. It already has such a deal with U.S. firm Cirtec Medical, which will start producing tiny batteries for medical devices next year.

Michael Rae, a clean-tech fund manager at M&G who was on the tour, said Ilika currently falls below his fund's market cap threshold but could become an investment candidate.

Battery makers like Ilika must still win major automotive customers, he said, requiring a "totally different skillset".

MOVE FASTER

Gotion's expertise helps InoBat solve problems, said CEO Bocek, adding: "This helps us move faster and conserve cash."

He said high-performance European automakers including Ferrari RACE.MI are currently testing InoBat's energy-dense batteries, to be made at the low-volume, high-margin 4 GWh gigafactory the company is building in Voderady.

The GIB joint venture is meanwhile focused on high-volume, lower-margin production leveraging Slovakia's position as Europe's fourth-largest car producer and its proximity to German, Czech and Hungarian auto plants.

GIB plans a $1.2 billion 20 GWh gigafactory in Surany, Slovakia to provide batteries for 200,000 EVs annually from 2027 for Volkswagen, which owns 24.45% of Gotion. InoBat's portion is part-funded by Slovak government aid of 214 million euros.

Bocek said automaker interest in an additional, planned 20 GWh production line at Surany has grown, particularly since Northvolt ran into trouble.

Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain specialist SC Insights, said investors and automakers want to "de-risk production".

"The Chinese have mastered low-cost mass production, so if you want batteries made, most likely Asian battery makers will make them," he said.

($1 = 0.9619 euros)

(Editing by Josephine Mason and Catherine Evans)

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Dec 19 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co 005380.KS:

• HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA LTD - TO OFFER MADE-IN-INDIA AGM BATTERY

• HYUNDAI MOTOR INDIA LTD - TO EQUIP PRODUCTS WITH AMARON AGM BATTERIES

Source text: ID:nBSEbfz8c3

Further company coverage: 005380.KS

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** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd AMAR.NS drop 3.9% to 1,320.50 rupees

** Battery maker's Q2 profit grew 6.6% YoY, but was lower than analysts' expectation of a 15% increase, as per data compiled by LSEG

** Motilal Oswal says earnings miss driven by higher-than-expected other expenses, which offset unchanged raw material costs

** Analysts tracking AMAR rate it "hold" on average, same as rival Exide EXID.NS - LSEG data

** AMAR trims YTD gains to 63% but outperforms EXID's ~39% rise this year

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Exide Industries EXID.NS fall 3.2% to 444.50 rupees, hitting their lowest since early June

** Battery maker misses Q2 net profit after tax and rev estimates on dampened demand in auto original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sector

** Busiest session for the stock in three weeks; more than 5.8 mln shares change hands

** Avg rating of 16 analysts covering the stock at "hold" while peer Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS also rated "hold"

** EXID's median PT is at 502 rupees - LSEG data

** EXID ~40% so far this year, set for third straight year of gains; AMAR up ~68% YTD

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Indian motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto BAJA.NS fall 10% to 10,401 rupees; set for their worst day since March 2020, if losses hold

** Fall after BAJA's weak festive sales growth outlook at just 3%-5% against industry expectations of at least 8%

** BAJA top pct loser on Nifty auto index .NIFTYAUTO and Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which are down 2.8% and 0.5%, respectively

** Forecast drags rivals Hero MotoCorp HROM.NS and TVS Motor TVSM.NS down 3.7% and 4.7%, respectively

** Nifty auto index set for worst day since early Aug

** Tyre-makers CEAT CEAT.NS, MRF MRF.NS and Apollo Tyres APLO.NS fall between 0.4% and 2%.

** Battery makers Exide Industries EXID.NS and Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS fall ~2% each

** Auto-focussed lender Shriram Finance SHMF.NS falls 1.6%

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru)

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July 16 (Reuters) - Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd AMAR.NS:

• APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ALLOWED APPEAL OF CO, SETS ASIDE TAX ORDER

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE2TnpsP

Further company coverage: AMAR.NS

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BENGALURU, June 25 (Reuters) - Indian shares were marginally higher at open on Tuesday, led by financial stocks, while the small-cap index jumped due to a 15% surge in Amara Raja Energy.

The NSE Nifty 50 index .NSEI was up 0.25% at 23,600 as of 09:23 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex .BSESN increased 0.3% to 77,554.

The domestically focussed small-cap index .NIFSMCP100 jumped 1%, led by gains in Amara Raja Energy and Mobility AMAR.NS.

Amara Raja's shares advanced 15% after the battery maker signed a licensing agreement with a unit of China-based Gotion High Tech 002074.SZ to produce lithium-ion batteries in India.

Financial stocks .NIFTYFIN gained 0.4%, while metal stocks .NIFTYMET rose 0.5% and was the top sectoral gainer.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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June 24 (Reuters) - Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd AMAR.NS:

• ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION WITH GOTION-INOBAT-BATTERIES

• COLLABORATION TO LICENSE TECHNOLOGY FOR PRISMATIC AND CYLINDRICAL CELLS FROM GIB

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE43Jhn3

Further company coverage: AMAR.NS

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** Shares of battery maker Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS rises 2.3% to 1,433 rupees

** Stock rose as much as 4.6% at open

** AMAR on Thursday said it invested a further 20 mln euros, which includes a subscription for an additional 4.5% equity stake, in European battery tech company InoBat AS

** Adds, after this investment, AMAR's total holding will be around 9.32% of its equity stake in InoBat AS

** Avg rating of 14 analysts equivalent of "hold", median PT is 1,200 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock up ~75% YTD

** Stock up 88.2% so far this quarter vs fall of 6.8% in March quarter

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS rise 10.7% to a fresh record high of 1,413.9 rupees

** Stock gained 29% in last three sessions, hitting a record high on Thursday

** Jayadev Galla, MD of Amara Raja, was a former MP from the local Telugu Desam Party (TDP), whose victory in general elections made it a key player in forming the national government; Galla did not contest in this election

** Stock up 21% so far this week, eyes best weekly gain since Aug. 17, 2012

** More than 8.1 mln shares change hands, 4.2x 30-day avg

** Analysts covering stock have "hold" rating on avg; AMAR currently trading at ~20% premium to median PT of 1,200 rupees - LSEG data

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS fall 2.7% to 1,213.8 rupees

** Battery maker's net profit rises ~62% to 2.28 bln rupees ($27.4 mln) in Q4, but misses analysts' avg estimate of 2.33 bln rupees, as per LSEG data

** Co hurt by 15% surge in total expenses

** Q4 rev from ops up 15% Y/Y but misses estimates too

** Thirteen analysts covering the stock on avg have a "hold" rating; median PT is 967 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock down 6.8% in March quarter

($1 = 83.3105 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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May 28 (Reuters) - Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd AMAR.NS:

• Q4 NET PAT 2.28 BILLION RUPEES; LSEG IBES EST 2.33 BILLION RUPEES

• Q4 REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 27.97 BILLION RUPEES; LSEG IBES EST 28.79 BILLION RUPEES

• YEAR AGO Q4 NET PAT 1.41 BILLION RUPEES, REVENUE 24.33 BILLION RUPEES

• DIVIDEND OF 5.1 RUPEES PER SHR

Source text for Eikon: ID:nBSE8ShdBc

Further company coverage: AMAR.NS

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** Shares of Exide Industries EXID.NS up as much as 5.7% to 481.65 rupees; last up 4.2%

** The battery maker reported a 36.6% Y/Y rise in its Q4 PAT to 2.84 bln rupees ($34 mln), above analysts' average estimate of 2.72 billion rupees

** Revenue from operations rose 13.2%

** Average rating of 18 analysts covering the stock is "hold"; median PT is 350 rupees - LSEG data

** EXID up 48.4% YTD, outperforming its peers Eveready Industries India ERDY.NS and Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS which are up 0.52% and 37%, respectively

($1 = 83.4852 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of battery maker Eveready Industries India ERDY.NS up 2.5% at 366.05 rupees

** ERDY posts March-qtr consolidated profit of 80.5 mln rupees ($965,025.32) vs loss of 143.9 mln rupees year ago

** Stock trading above its 50-,100-, 200-day moving avgs

** Analysts, on avg, rate ERDY "strong buy"; rivals Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS and Exide Industries EXID.NS have "hold" rating - LSEG

** As of YTD, ERDY up 3.7%, AMAR 35% higher, EXID has risen 45%

($1 = 83.4175 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru)

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NEW DELHI, April 23 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries RELI.NS, JSW Neo Energy and Amara Raja Advanced Cell Technologies are among seven companies who have submitted bids to set up battery manufacturing gigafactory in India, the government said on Tuesday.

The companies have submitted bids to set up units to manufacture advanced chemistry cells with a total capacity of 10GWh under the government's production-linked incentive scheme.

India offers incentives to private firms with an aim of boosting local production. The scheme for battery manufacturing has a maximum outlay of 36.20 billion rupees ($434.41 million), the government said.

Battery energy projects are critical to India's plan to expand its renewable energy capacity to 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, from 178 GW at present.

India's oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance, owned by the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and power company JSW Energy's JSW Neo Energy were others who put their name in the hat.

Shares of Amara Raja Energy and Mobility AMAR.NS, whose unit Amara Raja Advanced Cell is one of the bidders, soared 15% to an all-time high after the announcement.

($1 = 83.3310 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta, additional reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; editing by David Evans)

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** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS rise 3% to 1,034.7 rupees, set for 4th consecutive session of gains

** Unit Amara Raja Infra bags 500 MW solar project from Greenko, Business Standard reports, citing news agency PTI

** Amara Raja Infra did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment

** Over 3.1 mln shares change hands, 1.8x its 30-day avg

** 13 analysts covering AMAR have a "hold" rating; median PT is 885 rupees - LSEG data

** Stock has surged ~36% so far in April

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS rise as much as 10.4% to 963.45 rupees, their highest since Feb 2021

** Exide Industries EXID.NS rise as much as 9.5% to a record high of 448 rupees

** Reuters could not immediately ascertain a reason for stock move

** Exide has surged 40% in six sessions since it signed a deal to supply batteries to Hyundai 005380.KS and Kia 000270.KS for their EVs

** Nomura raised its PT on Exide to 485 rupees from 233 rupees

** Nomura expects 4W EV penetration in India to rise from 2% in FY24 to 20% by FY30F and demand for automotive battery cells to increase nearly 8x over that period

** Exide up ~47% YTD, while AMAR up ~18% vs ~17% gain in Nifty auto index .NIFTYAUTO

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of batteries maker HBL Power Systems HBLS.NS rise as much as 3.4% to a record high of 554 rupees

** HBLS reports Q3 consolidated net profit jumping 3.3x Y/Y while income from ops rose 80% Y/Y

** Revenue from industrial batteries segment, which forms almost a third of co's income rose ~41%

** Co also approved investment of 1.75 bln rupees ($21.09 mln) for capital expenditure during FY25 including 600 mln rupees for lithium ion cell production plant

** Share price above 50-day, 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages since Oct. 26

** Stock rose ~313% in 2023, its best yearly performance since 2007 listing

** Shares of rivals Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS and Exide Industries EXID.NS rose 42.7% and 76.3%, respectively in 2023, while Eveready Industries India ERDY.NS fell 4.5%

($1 = 82.9700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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BENGALURU, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Battery maker Eveready Industries India ERDY.NS reported a 55% jump in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by diminishing input costs.

Lithium prices, a key raw material for battery makers, were down in the quarter, helping offset beleaguered rural demand for batteries and flashlights.

Eveready's total expenses fell almost 9% to 2.95 billion rupees, led by a 29% decline in raw material costs. As a result, consolidated net profit rose to 84.1 million rupees ($1 million) in the three months to Dec. 31.

The softness in prices of battery-making metals also helped Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS and Exide Industries EXID.NS post profit climbs in the third quarter.

While the two also make batteries, Amara Raja and Exide cater more to automobile and industrial needs while Eveready's products are for household use.

Eveready's revenue, however, fell almost 8% to 3.05 billion rupees.

"The pattern of softer rural consumption in key battery-flashlight segments and continuing industry phenomenon of value diminution in the lighting segment reflected the third-quarter performance," the company said in a statement.

($1 = 83.0310 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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Jan 31 (Reuters) - Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd AMAR.NS:

• DEC-QUARTER NET PAT 2.4 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 2.23 BILLION RUPEES

• DEC-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 28.81 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 26.37 BILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: AMAR.NS

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BENGALURU, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Indian battery maker Exide Industries EXID.NS reported a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday as higher input costs ate into earnings, despite strong demand from the automobile sector.

Net profit after tax rose 7.7% to 2.40 billion rupees ($28.9 million) in the third quarter to Dec. 31, but missed analysts' estimate of 2.62 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

Raw material costs climbed 11.6%, increasing total expenses by 13%, even though prices of key input lithium carbonate fell. The company did not specify which material costs increased.

As a result, Exide's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin declined marginally to 11.5% from 11.8% a year earlier.

"Input cost inflationary pressures have started easing, which coupled with our cost optimisation initiatives is expected to support margins," CEO and MD Subir Chakraborty said in a statement.

Demand for batteries increased from the automobile industry as vehicle production rose in the October-December period.

That helped Exide log a 12.6% growth in revenue - the sharpest since the September 2022 quarter - to 38.41 billion rupees.

The automobile industry is key to Exide's earnings, accounting for more than two-thirds of its revenue.

Rival battery maker Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS will report its third-quarter results next week.

($1 = 83.1600 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Varun Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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BENGALURU, Oct 31 (Reuters) - India's Amara Raja Energy & Mobility AMAR.NS on Tuesday reported a jump in second-quarter profit, as improved demand for its products helped offset higher expenses.

The Amaron battery maker's consolidated net profit after tax came in at 2.26 billion rupees ($27.2 million), up nearly 13% from a year ago.

Improved rainfall in September led to a recovery in rural demand, particularly for two-wheelers, analysts said, leading to increased battery sales for Amara Raja.

Amara Raja's clients such as Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS have also boosted production as semiconductor supplies improved. Auto ancillary companies benefit from improved automobile production, which was hurt last year by chip supply chain issues.

The company's revenue rose over 9% to 29.59 billion rupees, boosted by a 6.5% climb in its lead acid batteries and allied products segment which accounts for nearly all its revenue.

The segment also includes its industrial business, which benefitted from expansion of India's 5G network, as Amara Raja also catering to telecom equipment manufacturers.

Expenses, however, rose 9.4%, led by a 7.6% increase in input costs. Average prices for key battery material lead increased 14% year-on-year.

The company plans to expand into the two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) market, first through chargers and then batteries, as part of an expansion to triple its lithium-ion business this financial year, a top executive told Reuters in August.

Amara Raja is the first of India's major listed battery makers to report earnings. Shares of the company closed down 2.9% ahead of the results.

($1 = 83.2484 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Varun Vyas and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

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** Amara Raja Batteries AMAR.NS up ~2%, a day after tumbling 6% as a large shareholder sold its 14% stake

** Trading vol on the day is 1.22 mln shares, less than the 30-day avg and well below the 35.5 mln vol on Tues

** NSE data shows BNP Paribas, Societe Generale Tata AIA Life Insurance, Nippon India Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund and Pinebridge Inv Asia picked up some AMAR shares

** AMAR up 14.5% so far in 2023 vs an over 9% rise in benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463))

** Shares of Amara Raja Batteries Ltd AMAR.NS fall as much as 5.7% to 646.30 rupees in their most active trading session in over 2 yrs

** Clarios ARBL Holding LP likely to sell its entire 14%stake in co via block deals on Tuesday, CNBC-TV18 reports, citing sources in the know

** AMAR, Clarios did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment

** More than 29.9 mln shares change hands by 9:37 a.m. IST in stock's most active trading session since May 25, 2021

** Stock logs biggest intraday pct loss since Dec. 23

** "Hold" is avg rating of 13 analysts covering the stock; median PT is 658 rupees - Refinitiv data

** At current levels, stock trims YTD gains to 14%

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Amara Raja Batteries Ltd AMAR.NS fall as much as 2.44% to 619 rupees

** Co's Q4 revenue and net profit fell 8% and 37% Q/Q, respectively

** Y/Y revenue growth of 11% also missed our estimates - Motilal Oswal

** However, co reports 41% Y/Y rise in Q4 profit as Q4FY22 earnings impacted due to geopolitical concerns after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which led to spike in costs of raw materials used to make batteries

** Trading volume is 559,785 shares as of 1:58 p.m. IST, 1.5 times the 30-day avg - Refinitiv data

** Of the 15 analysts tracking AMAR, five maintain "buy", two recommend "sell" and eight suggest "hold"; median TP is 630 rupees

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))