News

Britannia Q2 Earnings: Kolkata-headquartered FMCG company Britannia Industries on Wednesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 654 crore for the quarter ended September 30, driven by double-digit growth in the rusks, wafers and croissants and beating analysts' expectations. Britannia -- whose popular brands include Tiger, Good Day and Marie Gold -- staged a strong operational perfromance with a nearly 300-basis-point improvement in margin.

The biscuit maker's July-September net profit translated to year-on-year growth of 23 per cent and revenue grew 3.7 per cent to Rs 4,841 crore, according to a regulatory filing.

According to Zee Business research, Britannia Industries' second-quarter net profit was estimated at Rs 590 crore and revenue at Rs 4,930 crore.

The FMCG firm's quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 22 per cent to Rs 955 crore, beating the analysts' estimate of Rs 853 crore.

Its margin -- a key measure of profitability -- expanded to 19.7 per cent from 16.8 per cent a year ago, the filing showed.

According to Zee Business research, the Kolkata-based company's margin was pegged at 17.3 per cent.

Investors will closely track the company's conference call scheduled at 9:30 am on Friday.

Management commentary and update

“Our Revenue during the quarter registered a reasonable growth of 4.1% with the profits growing by 23.2%, driven by relatively stable commodity prices and sustained efforts to optimise costs across the value chain. The recent GST rate rationalisation announced by the government is a welcome step towards stimulating consumer demand and uplifting the overall economic sentiment in the country," said Varun Berry, executive vice-chairman, MD and CEO.

However, he said, transitional challenges arising from the GST-related changes in supply chain, trade and channels had a short-term impact on business during the latter part of the quarter. This is expected to get normalised progressively in the coming quarter, he added.

Looking forward, Britannia aims to drive the business through healthy volume-led growth as it continues to strengthen its presence across different geographies with regional-consumer centric product and distribution strategies, price competitiveness while leveraging its brand strength to sustain market leadership amidst the proliferation of multiple local players in different states and regions," said Berry.

Britannia appointed Rakshit Hargave as CEO for five years, effective December 15.

On Tuesday, Britannia shares ended 1.1 per cent higher at Rs 5,886.7 apiece on BSE. The market remained shut the next day for Guru Nanak Jayanti.

At the current level, the FMCG stock has gained 23.3 per cent so far this year, outperforming a 7.8 per cent rise in the Nifty50.