Tata Global Beverages Q2 net rises 19% to Rs 183.96 cr

Tata Global Beverages, which sells tea brands like Tata Tea and Tetley, Tuesday posted a 19.07 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated group net profit at Rs 183.96 crore in the quarter ended September.

It had reported a net profit of Rs 154.49 crore in the year-ago period.

"The North India plantation has done well because of higher tea prices and we have also had the benefit out of a tax credit on account of Starbucks. This has helped to us to post an increase in net profit for the quarter," Tata Global Beverages chief financial officer L Krishnakumar told PTI.

Its revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,760.87 crore during the quarter under review, against Rs 1,692.14 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Tata Global Beverages saw volume growth of close to double digit in India during the quarter, with most brands performing well in north and east.

Krishnakumar said the firm is planning to launch one or two products in the tea catagory over the next six months.

"We are seeing great improvement in volume trajectory. This quarter is actually an improved volume compared to where we were for the last six or eight quarters. We are seeing a bit of share gain from other smaller players and we hope that we will do better in the quarters ahead. The overall trajectory is quite positive for us," he said.

Tata Global Beverages has a market share of 20-21 per cent in the tea category in value terms, and 22-23 per cent in terms of volume.

India accounts for 45 per cent of the revenue at present, which is expected to grow as the company is looking at other areas of expansion in the market, he said.

The company increased its advertising and sales spend by 12.34 per cent at Rs 144.65 crore during the quarter, from Rs 128.76 per cent in the year-ago period.

Krishnakumar said the firm will look at exiting some of the businesses in smaller global markets in the next six to 12 months.

The company's scrip ended 3.32 per cent higher at Rs 226.90 apiece on the BSE Tuesday, against 0.52 per cent decline in the benchmark.