Tata Coffee hits 52-week high on strong December quarter results

Shares of Tata Coffee rallied 8 per cent on the BSE to hit a 52-week high of Rs 107 on Wednesday after the company reported a strong 61 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated profit before exceptional items and tax (PBT) at Rs 53 crore in December quarter (Q3FY20). The company had logged PBT of Rs 33 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The company’s revenue from operations remained flat during the quarter at Rs 166 crore against Rs 165 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Profit after tax (PAT) grew 53 per cent YoY at Rs 24.37 crore, the company said in an exchange filing.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin improved to 8.9 per cent from 5.35 per cent in the year-ago period.

The management said Eight O' Clock Coffee (EOC) reported higher profits due to lower advertisement and promotion costs and overall cost optimisation.

On plantations, improvement in prices and operating efficiencies has resulted in better profits. The newly established state-of-the-art plant in Vietnam has also registered robust sales in the third quarter, sequentially increasing production and sales. The company has a robust sales order pipeline, it added.

Meanwhile, Tata Coffee board approved the sale of up to 160,000 shares (0.06 per cent) held by the company in Tata Chemicals, through the secondary market.

At 09:37 am, the stock was trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 104 on the BSE. The counter has seen huge trading volumes with a combined 1.9 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE.