Britannia Q2 Profit Down 9.4%, Revenue Up 4.5% - PTI

New Delhi, Nov 11 (PTI) Bakery food company Britannia Industries Ltd on Monday reported a decline of 9.36 per cent in consolidated net profit to Rs 531.55 crore in the second quarter ended September 2024 on account of tepid consumer demand due to rising commodity inflation.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 586.5 crore in the July-September quarter a year ago, according to a regulatory filing from Britannia Industries.

Britannia Industries' revenue from the sale of products was up 4.47 per cent to Rs 4,566.23 crore in the latest September quarter.

Its revenue from operation was up 5.29 per cent to Rs 4,667.57 crore during the reporting quarter. It was at Rs 4,432.88 crore in the corresponding quarter.

The company's vice chairman and managing director Varun Berry said: "A 8 per cent volume growth with a sequential increase in revenue and operating profits are satisfactory results in the face of severe commodity inflation leading to a tepid consumer demand scenario in most FMCG categories."

Total expenses of Britannia Industries, which owns popular brands such as Good Day, Tiger, NutriChoice, Milk Bikis, and Marie Gold, increased 8.4 per cent to Rs 3,994.87 crore during the latest September quarter.

Britannia's total income was at Rs 4,713.57 crore in the September quarter, up 5.09 per cent year on year.

"In the context of steep rise in prices of key commodities such as wheat, palm, cocoa etc, we demonstrated agility in initiating focused pricing actions and identifying new levers for cost optimisation across the value-chain. As a result, we maintained a healthy operating margin of 15.5 per cent during the quarter," said Berry.

Britannia, which has an ambition to be a "total global foods company", said it is progressing well with our adjacent businesses such as croissant, milk shakes, wafers and international sales growing at a healthy pace.

"Making strides in this direction, we are working on redefining our distribution strategy to optimise range distribution and improve outlet servicing, and the preliminary results of the pilots across 25 cities covering more than 50,000 outlets are encouraging," he said.

Moreover, the company is also committed to invest in capability enhancement and brand development to drive market share and sustaining profits, Berry added.

Shares of Britannia Industries Ltd on Monday settled at Rs 5,425.30 apiece on BSE, 5.62 per cent lower than its previous close.