Nestlé India on Thursday reported a net profit of ₹698.34 crore for the quarter ended June 2023, up 36.86 per cent over ₹510.24 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Revenue from operations stood at ₹4,658.53 crore up 15.14 per cent.
Total sales stood at ₹4619.5 crore up 15 per cent.
Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India said, “We have, yet again, delivered robust performance, with all product groups registering double-digit growth. This is the fifth quarter in a row of double-digit growth across all product groups. Domestic sales growth is broad-based and grew by 14.6 per cent, on the back of prudent pricing and supported by mix and volume with targeted brand support.”
The company said key brands continued to perform well, led by Kitkat, Nescafé, and Maggi. It added that the Out-of-Home business recorded strong growth in the second quarter on the back of portfolio transformation and robust precise execution of differentiated channel and geography plans.
“Our RURBAN strategy was helped by increasing distribution footprint with relevant portfolios, thereby achieving higher penetration. We witnessed strong growth across Megacities and Metros, robust performance in Tier 1 to 6 towns and continued strength in rural markets. E-commerce continued to perform strongly and now accounts for almost 6.5 per cent of sales,” Narayanan added.
The packaged food major said that the organised trade channel continued delivering “strong broad-based growth” across categories driven by store expansion and improved footfalls. In terms of exports, the company saw strong double-digit growth across all categories through “proliferation of products” such as Nescafé Sunrise and Polo.
The company had earlier announced that it will be setting up its tenth factory in Odisha with investments of ₹894 crore. “’Make in India’ has always remained the cornerstone of our industrial footprint strategy. Our ambition is to also make the Odisha factory ‘State of art’,” he added.
Commodity outlook
The packaged food major said that edible oils, wheat, and packaging materials have been in the lower price range. “A reversal of price trend is noted in fuels with prices softening in the second quarter after reaching a higher level towards the end of quarter one. In fresh milk, there has been price stability. Robusta prices are elevated and are expected to remain volatile,” it said in its commodity outlook.
Change in financial year
The company’s board has approved a change in the financial year of the company from January-December to April-March period. Accordingly, “the current Financial Year of the Company shall be extended upto March 31, 2024 covering a period of 15 months commencing January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 and subsequent Financial Years of the Company would begin from April 1 every year and end with March 31 of the subsequent year,” Nestlé India said in a BSE filing.