Britannia Q4 profit jumps 48% YoY to Rs 558 crore; beats estimates

Britannia's operating profit, calculated as earnings before interest and tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), came in at Rs 801 crore, while margins were up 20 percent. The company's volume growth came in at 1 percent as against 4 to 5 percent expected.

"We delivered a robust growth of 11 percent in this quarter on the back of significant distribution gains, which reflects our execution strength across businesses & channels. We continued to accelerate our rural journey with focus on enhancing reach, partnering with 28,000 rural distributors, and sustaining our diligent market practices. Our brand & distribution strength also reflects in the consistent market share gains over the last 10 years," said Varun Berry, Vice Chairman and Managing Director.

"On cost and profitability front, input prices softened on the back of correction in Palm Oil & Packaging materials, while Flour continued to trend higher. Our intensified cost efficiency program coupled with moderation in commodity inflation led to a healthy operating margin in this quarter," Berry said.

He further added, "We are being vigilant of the competitive actions in the marketplace and closely monitoring the commodity situation in the country, especially around Wheat and Sugar. We shall deploy appropriate pricing

actions to remain competitive and drive market share growth."

Despite a on-year rise in input costs, staff, and other expenses, the confectionary and dairy products maker reported a whopping 475 basis points expansion in margins in Q4 to 20.4 percent.

Raw material costs rose around 12 percent YoY to Rs 1,717 crore. Raw materials made up 54 percent of the total expenses in the fourth quarter.

Britannia Industries has an average target price of Rs 4,638.42 per share, implying 0.27 percent upside, according to data from Trendlyne.

Shares of Britannia Industries Ltd climbed 0.89 percent to settle at Rs 4,625.65 apiece in Friday's trade. On a year-to-date basis, the stock rose 7.77 percent, while it surged 40 percent in the last one year.