Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd (HCCB), bottling arm of Coca-Cola in India, witnessed a huge jump in net profit in FY24. According to the company’s RoC filing accessed through the business intelligence platform Tofler, HCCB’s consolidated net profit soared to ₹2,808.3 crore in FY24 from ₹812.5 crore in FY23. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹1,4021.54 crore up 10.10 per cent in FY24.
The beverage major’s bottling arm has been focusing on an asset-light strategy. As part of this strategy, it divested company-owned bottling operations to independent bottlers in Rajasthan, Bihar, parts of West Bengal and North East during FY24.
In its regulatory filing, HCCB noted that it has “synergised, restructured and consolidated” its business operation in “eastern and central States of India by selling part of its business undertaking pertaining to preparing, packaging, distributing and selling of non-alcoholic beverage products, in territories of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar and North East” on a slump sale basis.
HCCB also invested about ₹1,963 crore in FY24 in ramping up manufacturing capacity in the country.
In its RoC filing, the company’s management said, “The operating environment during the year (FY24) was challenging and was marked by inflationary headwinds and geopolitical pressures. However, our agility in seizing market opportunities, focus on execution excellence and proactive strategic interventions enabled it to post strong performance across all operating segments.” HCCB’s management said that it demonstrated resilience in navigating this “dynamic environment” with speed and agility.
Long term focus
It said it also focused on launching new products in order to cater to evolving consumer needs including introduction of “Charged” in 250 ml PET bottle during the past fiscal. It added that it is focusing on “scaling up growth and profitability with rapid scaling of new pack price architecture across sparkling and juice segments, coupled with marketing and execution efforts.”
“The long-term outlook for beverage business in India is very positive. The structural drivers of long-term growth such as rising disposable incomes and consumer awareness, low levels of penetration of consumer goods, favourable demographics, increasing urbanisation and growing preference for trusted brands are firmly in place,” the company noted in it RoC filing.