India's Bajaj Electricals Q3 profit rise 27%

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's Bajaj Electricals Ltd reported a near 27% surge in third-quarter profit on Thursday, aided by higher demand for consumer goods such as room heaters and lighting products that helped cushion a hit from rising expenses.

Consolidated net profit rose to 611.2 million rupees ($7.46 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared to 482.1 million rupees a year earlier.

Revenue from its consumer products business, which includes room heaters, air cooler and kitchen appliances and accounts for nearly 70% of total sales, rose about 10% to 10.39 billion rupees.

This helped overall revenue from operations to climb 12.5% to 14.84 billion rupees in the quarter.

Expenses remained elevated in the quarter, rising nearly 13%. The company's order book stood at 14.74 billion rupees as of Jan. 1.

Shares of the company were flat at 1,147 rupees in afternoon trading. 

($1 = 81.8850 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen Soreng)