Tata Consumer Products Q2 net profit up 18% to Rs 234 crore

Profitability did well because of the growth in the revenue and good management of cost," TCPL Group CFO L Krishnakumar said during the post earnings call. The company's total expenses stood at Rs 2,462.20 crore in the latest September quarter as against Rs 2,111.35 crore in the same period a year ago.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) on Friday reported an 18 percent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 234.33 crore for three months ended September, helped by an increase in domestic sales and volumes. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 198.65 crore in the year-ago period, TCPL, earlier known as Tata Global Beverages Ltd, said in a filing to the BSE.

Its revenue from operations was up 18.50 percent to Rs 2,781.34 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,347.07 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. "Overall, good performance by the different parts of the business in terms of revenue. Profitability did well because of the growth in the revenue and good management of cost," TCPL Group CFO L Krishnakumar said during the post-earnings call.

The company's total expenses stood at Rs 2,462.20 crore in the latest September quarter as against Rs 2,111.35 crore in the same period a year ago. During the quarter, TCPL's overall India business grew 25 percent, the company said in a statement.

"For the quarter, the India Packaged Beverages business clocked a 12 percent volume growth and 29 percent value growth, driven by higher volumes and price realization, further accelerating from the previous quarter and driving market share gains," TCPL said. Its 'India Foods' business in Q2/FY 2020-21 grew 13.11 percent to Rs 580.31 crore. In the year-ago period, it stood at Rs 513.02 crore.

"India Foods business grew 13 percent, led by strong growth in both the Salt and Pulses portfolios. There was also a sequential improvement in NourishCo's performance, albeit the category continues to be impacted by a decrease in Out of Home consumption," TCPL said. Revenue from 'International - Beverages' was up 7.34 percent to Rs 800.50 crore in the three months ended September 2020, partly benefitting from favorable currency movement. In the same period a year ago, it was at Rs 745.71 crore.

"During the quarter, the International Beverages business saw normalization in demand following pantry stocking during the previous quarter," it said. About Tata Starbucks, the company said it has registered a significant recovery month on month.

"86 percent of its stores have now re-opened for business," TCPL said, adding that Tata Starbucks in July-September opened 11 new stores and added one new city Lucknow, taking its total store count to 196 as of the quarter close. TCPL Managing Director & CEO Sunil D'Souza said, "we posted all round revenue and profit growth during the quarter driven by accelerated momentum in our India business. The integration of our food and beverage business in India is progressing ahead of plan and we should start to see synergy benefits in the near term".

About the outlook, D'Souza said TCPL would be "strengthening core business, driving innovation and digitization, unlocking synergies from the merger, creating a future-ready organization and caring for the society will continue to be focus areas for us". Shares of TCPL on Friday settled almost flat at Rs 504.30 on the BSE.