31 Jul , 2021 By : Kanchan Joshi
New Delhi: Britannia Industries Ltd. (BIL) on Friday reported a 28.6% drop in June quarter profit to Rs387.01 crore, missing Street estimates. The company had reported a net profit of Rs542.68 crore in the year-ago period.
Consolidated revenue from operations for the three months ended 30 June stood at Rs3,403.46 crore, down marginally from the Rs3,420.67 crore it reported in the year-ago period.
Estimates by 21 analysts had pegged Britannia’s consolidated revenue at Rs3171.10 crore, while projecting quarterly consolidated profit of Rs412.10 crore.
The company continued to witness higher commodity prices, especially palm oil and crude. Other expenses grew 9.27% during the quarter. “On the cost front, we continued to witness increase in the prices of palm oil and crude. In light of hardship to the consumers owing to the pandemic, we were cautious on pricing but aggressive on cost efficiencies, which helped us improve our operating profit from 14.9% in Q4FY20-21 to 15.1% in Q1F21-22," Varun Berry, managing director, Britannia Industries Ltd., said.
In the June quarter of the last fiscal, Britannia posted a 26% jump in sales as it benefitted significantly from increased in-home consumption. Indian households bought more biscuits during India’s protracted lockdown a year ago.
The second wave of covid-19 that struck the country hard was followed by lockdowns imposed by various state governments. While companies saw limited supply-side disruptions, demand normalized with consumers going easy on pantry-stocking.
“We witnessed evolving nature of the pandemic as well as consumer sentiment and behaviour. In these uncertain times, we delivered a healthy consolidated 24-month sales growth of 25% and net profit growth of 55%," he said.
The company warned of “calibrated" price increases in the future.
"Britannia will continue to create and sustain an ecosystem of financial and operating efficiencies through rigorous process improvements which would act as a strong pillar for sustainable growth," Berry said.
During the quarter the company relaunched Goodday Chocochips with a campaign and launched 50-50 Potazos in the northeast.
Britannia’s brands were back on air and its full range of products retailed in market as the supply chain impact was less severe.
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