Britannia Industries' shares jump nearly 10% after Q2 profit beat

Shares of India's Britannia Industries Ltd rose as much as 10% on Monday, after the Good Day and Tiger biscuits maker reported late Friday a 28.4% jump in second-quarter consolidated net profit.

The company's profit was 4.93 billion rupees ($59.97 million) for the three months ended on Sept. 30, beating analysts' expectations for a profit of 4.12 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Total revenue from operations rose 21.4% to 43.8 billion rupees from 36.07 billion rupees a year ago.

Britannia's beat comes after peers Hindustan Unilever reported rise in profit, while Dabur India posted lower profit hit by high commodity prices.

India's food inflation, which accounts for nearly 40% of the consumer price index (CPI) basket, rose 8.60% in September, compared to 7.62% in August. Recently, the government extended curbs on sugar exports by one year until October 2023 to contain a rise in domestic prices following record exports.

However, palm oil prices, a key ingredient in the fast-moving consumer goods or FMCG sector, have come down significantly from their all-time high touched in March, following Indonesia's decision to suspend export levies in July because of a build up of stocks.

Britannia shares were the top gainer in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

($1 = 82.2050 Indian rupees)

 

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi Aich)