Adani group said to be in talks to exit FMCG joint venture with Wilmar

This comes at a time when Adani Wilmar Ltd has been posting losses for two consecutive quarters

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Gautam Adani-led Adani group is in talks to sell its entire 43.97 per cent stake in Adani Wilmar Ltd, and the deal is likely to be finalised within a month, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Monday. Adani Wilmar Ltd owns brands like Fortune Oil and packaged grocery.

The report added that the conglomerate is expecting $2.5-3 billion from its stake sale. After the exit, the conglomerate will focus more on areas like infrastructure, a person aware of the matter was quoted in the report as saying.

The report further said that the promoters have been considering a stake sale in its non-core business after the Hindenburg report, released in January this year.

This comes at a time when the company has been posting losses for two consecutive quarters. Last week, it reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 130.73 crore for the July-September quarter, as profitability was severely impacted in the cooking oil business.

Its total income fell to Rs 12,331.20 crore during the July-September period from Rs 14,209.20 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The total expenses of Adani Wilmar stood at Rs 12,439.45 crore during the second quarter of this fiscal against Rs 14,149.62 crore in the year-ago period. In volume terms, the company's sales grew 11 per cent to 1.46 million tonnes.

Adani Wilmar Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Angshu Mallick said, "While the profitability in edible oils was impacted consecutively for the second quarter, we believe that the abnormality will soon reverse".

Adani Wilmar said profitability was adversely impacted due to loss in the edible oil segment, which was partially offset by better margins in the Food & FMCG and industry essential segments. "Edible oil losses are primarily driven by divergent trends in the spot (physical) and future prices, resulting in hedging losses," it added.

As of 9:45 am on Monday, Adani Wilmar's shares were trading 0.06 per cent in the green at Rs 317.65 apiece on BSE.