TTK Prestige posts 26% drop in Q4 profit as cookware demand weakens

Indian cookware maker TTK Prestige Ltd reported a 26% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by weakened demand for its kitchenware products.
 

The Bengaluru-based company's consolidated net profit fell to 594.5 million rupees ($7.18 million) in the three months ended March, from 800.2 million rupees a year earlier.
 

Customers, hurt by rising costs, cut down on discretionary spending, hitting profit margins of companies like TTK which makes consumer durables like pressure cookers, stoves and grillers.
 

"Growth is expected to stabilise during the second half of FY24," the company said in an exchange filing, adding that the overall retail climate during the quarter was not conducive to growth due to the discretionary nature of its products.
 

Consolidated revenue from operations slid more than 12% to 6.11 billion rupees, the company said, with standalone sales declining across segments.
 

Standalone margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) contracted to 16.8% from 18.4% in the year-ago period.
 

Its mainstay appliances segment, which accounted for half of the standalone sales in the quarter, fell 7.8%, while the second-biggest cookers wing slid almost 20%.
 

The Prestige pressure cooker seller's expenses fell 9% to 5.50 billion rupees.
 

Spending on automobile, travel, hospitality and entertainment remained high during the quarter that further affected demand for kitchen appliances, the company added.
 

The company posted a 36.5% profit slump in the last quarter as well.
 

The company's board of directors also declared a dividend of 6 rupees per share.
 

Shares of TTK Prestige down as much as 4.8% after the results.
 

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami)