Britannia Industries on Friday posted a strong set of numbers for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020-21 (Q1FY21). The company's consolidated net profit jumped 118 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 542.68 crore as against Rs 248.64 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the numbers grew 45.74 per cent.
The company's total revenue came in at Rs 3,420.67 crore, up 26.67 per cent against Rs 2,700.35 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Total income stood at Rs 3,514.35 crore against Rs 2,767.80 crore in June 2019 quarter.
The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) surged 82 per cent YoY to Rs 717 crore while EBITDA margin expanded by 640 basis points (bps) to 21 per cent. Basic earnings per share (EPS) of Britannia Industries advanced was Rs 22.69, up 117 per cent against Rs 10.45 in the year-ago period.
“The quarter posed an uphill task for the economy in wake of Covid-19 and caused significant disruptions due to lockdowns imposed to curtail its spread. Factories, depots, transport & vendors across the supply chain were impacted. Our top priority was to ensure safety of our employees & the eco-system we work with for which we laid out clear & stringent standard operating procedures and implemented them meticulously. We thank the sincere efforts put in by the employees, business partners, vendors, customers and the healthcare workers to sail through these times," said Varun Berry, Managing Director. CLICK TO VIEW PRESS RELEASE
The numbers were much better than what analysts had expected. Nirmal Bang Securities, for instance, had expected Britannia to clock revenue growth of 22 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 3,294.4 crore, led by base business volume growth of 20 per cent versus a lower base of 3 per cent. EBITDA margin was expected to expand by 150 basis points (bps) YoY to 16.1 per cent. Adjusted profit after tax (PAT) was seen growing by 52 per cent YoY to Rs 401.6 crore due to a lower tax rate compared to the base quarter. CLICK TO READ ANALYSTS' EXPECTATIONS
On the cost front, "we witnessed moderate inflation in the prices of key raw materials and expect the prices to be stable going forward given the positive outlook on monsoon & harvest," the company said in its press release. It further added that the company is diligently studying the impact of Covid-19 on short-term and long-term changes in consumer preferences, distribution models and is confident of overcoming challenges.
At 01:14 pm, the stock was trading over 1 per cent lower at Rs 3,811.95 on the BSE as compared to 0.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.