Tata Consumer Products' net profit falls 42% to Rs 200 cr in June quarter

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) on Tuesday reported a decline of 42.05 per cent in consolidated net profit to Rs 200.24 crore for the first quarter ended June 2021, on account of one-time exceptional gains in the previous year.

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 345.55 crore in the April-June quarter a year ago, said TCPL, earlier known as Tata Global Beverages Ltd, in a BSE filing.

However, its revenue from operations in April-June 2021 jumped 10.85 per cent to Rs 3,008.46 crore, compared with Rs 2,713.91 crore in the year-ago period.

"Group consolidated net profit is lower driven by lower PBT (profit before tax) and one-time exceptional gain in the previous year," said TCPL in a post-earning statement.

The exceptional item for the corresponding quarter of the previous year represents a gain of Rs 84 crore on the conversion of a Joint Venture (NourishCo Beverages) into a subsidiary and costs relating to the business integration Rs 21 crore.

"Revenue from operations increased by 11 per cent as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, mainly driven by the growth of 28 per cent in India Beverages (including NourishCo) and 20 per cent in India Foods," it said.

TCPL's total expenses stood at Rs 2,696.19 crore, a jump of 16.69 per cent as against Rs 2,310.44 crore a year ago.

TCPL Group CFO L Krishnakumar told PTI, "Despite the market disruption, we grew our India business... Overall, it is a strong double-digit growth in spite of lockdown and other implications."

TCPL's profitability in India was lower because tea cost in the latter part of the year went up significantly and now, it has started to come down, he added.

"It is the impact of the higher tea cost, compared to the same period last year, which is distorting the profitability of India business," he said.

Krishnakumar also said the non-branded business, which is Tata Coffee plantation, also did well in this quarter. "These three contributed to outstanding quarter."

In the fourth quarter of 2019-20, TCPL's revenue from its 'India-beverages' segment was up 28.16 per cent to Rs 1,267.09 crore as against Rs 988.62 crore.

"For the quarter, the India packaged beverages business recorded a 24 per cent value growth and three per cent volume growth, impacted by disruption caused by the second wave of COVID-19," it said.

While Its India food business jumped 19.62 per cent to Rs 704.67 crore, compared with Rs 589.06 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

It registered a 17 per cent volume growth, despite a high base in the corresponding quarter.

Moreover, during the quarter, its e-commerce recorded "significant growth of 153 per cent y-o-y and contributed 7.3 per cent of domestic sales", TCPL said.

However, TCPL's revenue from the 'international-beverages' segment was down 12.69 per cent to Rs 767.58 crore. It was Rs 879.22 crore a year ago.

"International business reported lower revenue as previous year benefitted from COVID-19-induced pantry stocking," it added.

While updating over Soulfull brand of breakfast cereals and millet-based snacks acquisition, TCPL said integration has been completed. Its sales and distribution have been integrated with the Tata Consumer Products' system, enabling a scale-up in reach.

Moreover, Tata Starbucks recorded revenue growth of 371 per cent in Q1 on a depressed base of last year that was impacted by nationwide lockdown.

Despite this growth, the revenue for the quarter for Tata Starbucks, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Consumer Products Ltd and Starbucks Corporation, was lower when indexed to the same period in FY20.

"While April and May this year were impacted by localised lockdowns, June saw a V-shaped recovery with a gradual easing of restrictions on store operations," said TCPL.

During the quarter delivery contribution increased to 27 per cent, driven by several focused initiatives to offset the decline in dine in.

Shares of Tata Consumer Products Ltd on Tuesday settled at Rs 767.35 apiece on the BSE, up 1.01 per cent from the previous close.