Nestle India Q3 profit up 33% at Rs 595 cr on higher domestic sales growth

FMCG major Nestle India on Friday reported 33.46 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 595.41 crore for the third quarter ended September 2019, on higher domestic sales growth and lower tax outgo. The company, which follows January-December as financial year, had posted a profit of Rs 446.11 crore in the year-ago period.

Net sales were up 9.49 per cent to Rs 3,199.31 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,921.99 crore in the same period of the previous financial year.

"Maggi, Kitkat, Nestle Munch, Nescafe RTD, NANGROW and CEREGROW delivered strong performances. The quarter witnessed higher commodity prices particularly in milk and its derivatives, which are likely to continue in the near term future," Nestle India CMD Suresh Narayanan said.

Nestle profit also includes one-off credit of Rs 72.5 crore pertaining to the previous quarter as the company factored in the impact of change in corporate tax announced by the government.

"The tax expense for the current quarter is lower due to the credit of Rs 72.5 crore pertaining to the previous quarter. This has also impacted the current quarter's Net Profit by the same amount and the Earnings Per Share by Rs 7.5," said Nestle India in a statement.

Nestle's total expenses were at Rs 2,572.32 crore during the quarter as against Rs 2,334.63 crore earlier, up 10.18 per cent.

Revenue from Nestle's domestic sales in July-September was up 10.53 per cent to Rs 3,039.09 crore as against Rs 2,749.50 crore. However, exports were down 7.11 per cent to Rs 160.22 crore as against Rs 172.49 crore in the year-ago period.

"Domestic sales increased 10.5 per cent largely driven by volume & mix. Export sales dropped 7.1 per cent due to lower coffee exports to Turkey," said Nestle India.

Shares of Nestle India on Friday settled at Rs 14,474.65 apiece on the BSE, down 1.66 per cent.