One-time gains, deferred tax prop up Q4 net profit of TGB

The growth in consolidated net profit was 77% for the March quarter, while topline growth was 5%

Aided by one-time gains and deferred tax, the group consolidated net profit of Tata Global Beverages (TGB) increased 77% during the March 2013 ended quarter to Rs 95.76 crore as against Rs 54.21 crore in the year-ago period. One-time gains were to the tune of Rs 50 lakh, while deferred tax for the quarter amounted to nearly Rs 7 crore.

In terms of net sales, TGB's growth for the quarter was 5% to Rs 1,810.89 crore versus Rs 1,724.11 crore in the year-ago period.

The tea segment posted a revenue of Rs 1,366.56 crore, up from Rs 1,278.19 crore in the same quarter last year. Coffee and other products had sales of Rs 459.52 crore in the quarter under review as compared to Rs 434.38 crore last year.

TGB derives nearly 72% of its revenues from tea, while 22% comes from coffee, 5% from non-branded products such as instant tea and coffee and one% from water. Harish Bhat, managing director, TGB, says that the company hopes to take up revenues from segments such as coffee and water in the next five years.

Notably, TGB is hoping to achieve this with its joint ventures with Starbucks and PepsiCo in India. Going forward, Bhat said that the company hoped to increase its revenues from India to 40% from the current 35%. Contribution from international markets would stand at 60% from the current 65%, he said.

"We have opened a total of 13 Starbucks stores in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi this far. The response and footfalls in these stores have been good," Bhat added.

In the past, the company had indicated that it hoped to open 50 stores in the first year of operation. While Bhat declined whether it would achieve this number and which other cities the JV was targeting, speculation has been rife that the next location for the venture would be Bangalore.

Under NourishCo - its JV with PepsiCo - TGB relaunched the fortified water brand - Tata Water Plus - and added a mango variant to the lemon and orange flavours of Tata Gluco Plus. "In the next 24 months, we will take both Tata Water Plus and Tata Gluco Plus to the rest of India from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where it is currently available," Bhat said.

Tata Water Plus is available in a pouch of Rs 2 and a one-litre PET bottle of Rs 20. Tata Gluco Plus, which is flavoured water, is priced at Rs 8 for a 200-ml pack.