Bulgaria's car battery maker MonBat recorded a 17 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated sales revenue to slightly below 130 million leva in January-September.

Its net profit stood at 13.4 million leva in the nine-month period, going up by an annual 19 per cent.

Monbat suffered a steep decline in net profit in July 2011, which was however mitigated by stronger performance in August and September.

In the first month of the third quarter, its consolidated pre-tax profit plunged by 61.74 per cent on the year to 712 000 leva. The profit slump was attributed to stricter waste management regulations, which led to a 70 per cent drop in raw material supplies to its Romania-based scrap battery recycling unit and the subsequent reduction in lead and lead alloys output. The recycling unit failed to deliver on its lead processing and production targets in July, which undermined its profitability.