Moneycontrol Bureau
Bakery products maker Britannia Industries' third quarter profit grew by 4.6 percent to Rs 220.5 crore compared with Rs 210.81 crore in year-ago quarter, though demonetisation hit operational performance.
Revenue during the quarter increased 6.1 percent to Rs 2,355 crore compared with Rs 2,219.6 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal despite demonetisation.
"The impact in terms of liquidity crunch was felt by consumers and channel partners, thereby impacting revenues with sales dropping in November sequentially over October by more than 10 percent. Revenues in December improved on a sequential basis but is still lower than what we would have expected it to be," Varun Berry, Managing Director said.
She further said growth in international business continued to be under pressure due to deteriorating geopolitical situation and currency fluctuations in geographies like Middle East and Africa.
Operating profit rose 0.5 percent to Rs 312.5 crore but margin contracted by 70 basis points to 13.3 percent in the quarter gone by.
Britannia has rationalised its advertising spends as no amount of stimulus would have helped boost growth in the wake of demonetisation. It also endeavoured to leverage fixed cost to aid operating margin.
Earnings were ahead of analysts' estimates. Profit was estimated at Rs 192 crore on revenue of Rs 2,197 crore and operating profit was expected at Rs 282 crore with margin at 12.8 percent for the quarter, according to analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.
At 15:22 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 3,278.00, up Rs 42.25, or 1.31 percent on the BSE.
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