Tata Consumer Products posts Q4 net profit at Rs 74.35 cr

Its revenue from operations climbed 26.29% to Rs 3,037.22 crore during the quarter under review

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 74.35 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, helped by double-digit volume growth in its domestic business.

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 122.48 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago, TCPL, earlier known as Tata Global Beverages Ltd, said in a BSE filing.

Its revenue from operations climbed 26.29 per cent to Rs 3,037.22 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,405.03 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

“In the quarter we have a very strong volume growth both in - India Food and India Beverages business. Both grew by over 20 per cent,” TCPL Group CFO L Krishnakumar told PTI.

The main contributors are transformation in the sales & distribution and digitisation, which helped both the business to grow over 20 per cent and gain market share, he added.

“The non-branded business, which is Tata Coffee plantation also did well in this quarter. These three contributed to outstanding quarter,” Krishnakumar said.

TCPL’s total expenses were at Rs 2,818.34 crore, up 29.32 per cent compared to Rs 2,179.41 crore in Q4 FY 2019-20.

In Q4 FY 2020-21, TCPL’s revenue from its ‘India - Beverages’ segment rose 59.62 per cent to Rs 1,204.84 crore as against Rs 754.83 crore.

“For the quarter, the India Packaged Beverages business recorded a 53 per cent value growth and 23 per cent volume growth, driven by robust growth across most of our brands that also resulted in market share gains,” the company said.

Its India - Foods business increased 22.36 per cent to Rs 641.68 crore as against Rs 524.44 crore.

“For the quarter, the India Foods business registered a 22 per cent revenue growth and 18 per cent volume growth. This translated to 17 per cent revenue growth in Salt portfolio and 26 per cent revenue growth in Tata Sampann portfolio for the year,” it said.

However, TCPLs’ revenue from the ‘International - Beverages’ showed a marginal growth to Rs 875.21 crore. It was Rs 874.41 crore in the corresponding quarter previous fiscal.

“During the quarter, the International Beverages business growth rates slowed owing to pantry loading in the base quarter last year,” it said.

Moreover, Tata Starbucks recorded revenue growth of 14 per cent in the January-March quarter.

Tata Starbucks, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Consumer Products Ltd and Starbucks Corporation, opened 39 new stores and entered 7 new cities during the financial year.

For fiscal 2020-21, TCPL has reported an over two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 930.46 crore. It had a net profit of Rs 460.11 crore in the previous fiscal.

Its revenue from operations for the entire fiscal increased 20.39 per cent to Rs 11,602.03 crore. It was Rs 9,637.42 crore in 2019-20.

In a separate filing, TCPL informed that its board in a meeting held on Thursday has recommended a final dividend of 405 per cent, which is Rs 4.05 per equity share of Re 1 each for the financial year 2020-21.

“Overall, this year, despite the pandemic, we completed the integration of India business, made significant progress in our transformation journey, delivered strong earnings growth in the face of unprecedented inflation in a key raw material, while prioritising the safety and well-being of our people,” TCPL Managing Director & CEO Sunil D’Souza said.

When asked about the outlook, Krishnakumar said the company was “cautiously optimistic” and the company is investing in distribution, among others.

“We will have to watch the Covid, but to underline this - we are strong and the opportunity continues to be in abundance,” he said.

Shares of Tata Consumer Products Ltd on Friday settled at Rs 653.40 apiece on BSE, up 0.62 per cent from the previous close.