Britannia Industries Q4 Results: Cons PAT declines 4% YoY to Rs 538 crore; dividend declared at Rs 73.5 per share

FMCG major Britannia Industries on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 538.28 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, down by 3.6% on a year-on-year basis versus Rs 558.66 crore reported in the year-ago period. The PAT was in line with the Street's estimates, which predicted the same at Rs 537 crore.

The company's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 73.5 per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2024.

Meanwhile, the revenues witnessed a marginal miss from Street estimates of Rs 4,130 crore.

On a sequential basis, the net profit saw a decline of 3.2% over Rs 556.39 crore reported in Q3FY24. The revenue stood at Rs 4,126.70, down by 4.2% versus Rs 4,306.89 crore in Q3FY24.

For the year ended March 31, 2024, the consolidated revenue stood at Rs 16,546 crore up by 3.5% over previous year and the operating profit stood at Rs 2,869 crore growing by 10.1%, which was 17.3% of the sales.

Commenting on the results Varun Berry, vice-chairman & managing director called company's performance as resilience and competitive in a tepid consumption scenario. "Over the past 24 months, we have achieved a strong 19% growth in revenue, accompanied by a notable 43% increase in operating profit. Our market share rebounded as the year progressed as a result of strategic pricing actions to maintain competitiveness and intensified investments in brands, supported by distribution expansion," Berry said.

The company expanded its distribution network, reaching approximately 27.9 lakh outlets directly and added around 2,000 rural distributors over the past year.

On cost and profitability fronts, Berry said the company would stay vigilant of the commodity prices and evolving geopolitical landscape. "Our Cost Efficiency Program continues to yield operational savings of 2% of revenues, ensuring healthy operating margins," the VC & MD said.

The company incurred expenses of Rs 3,388.28 crore in the reported quarter, which was up nearly 2% from Rs 3,322.48 crore reported in Q4FY23. On a sequential basis, it managed to trim its expenses 4.4% over Rs 3,544.42 crore incurred in Q3FY24.

Other ket takeaways:

• The consolidated PAT for full financial year stood at Rs 2,139.81, down from Rs 2,321.77 crore reported in FY23.
• Company's debt-to-equity ratio declined to 0.52 versus 0.53 in Q3FY24 and 0.85 in Q4FY23.
• The net profit margin for the reporting quarter stood at 13% versus 12.90% in Q3FY24 and 13.67% in Q4FY23.
• The operating margin in Q4FY24 stood at 17.29%, down from 17.42% in Q3FY24 and 18.38% in Q4FY23.