Gordon Ulsh

Slowing of the global economy and higher lead prices are impacting one of the world's largest producers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries for use in forklifts and other modes of transportation.

"As fewer goods are sold, sales of lift trucks and lift truck batteries generally decline," says Gordon Ulsh, president and chief executive officer of Exide Technologies.

"We've seen this slowing in ordering patterns in our US market, and if we see further [gross domestic product] contraction, slower order patterns could continue," Ulsh notes in a conference call with security analysts. "Order activity in Europe continues to hold up quite well."

Exide's battery brands for material handling equipment applications in the North American market include Element, Tubular-HP, Liberator, Sonnenshein, GNB, GNB Fusion and Element Gel.

Publicly traded Exide reported profit of USD32.1 million on sales of USD3.70 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, but the Alpharetta-based firm said it lost USD10.3 million on sales of USD971.3 for the quarter ended June 30. The loss was attributed, in part, to the higher cost of procuring lead, which Exide says accounts for about 48.8% of its cost of goods sold.