Britannia Industries net profits up 151% in Q3FY23

Britannia Industries, the FMCG company belonging to the Wadia Group, released its quarterly numbers for Q3FY23. The consolidated net profits zoomed by 151.19% to clock Rs932.39 crore in the December 2022 quarter. However, this included an exceptional gain of Rs376 crore, but even excluding that, the operating performance was impressive. Operational revenues were up 17.39% at Rs4,197 crore. 

The profit numbers beat the consensus estimates of five brokerages, which had pegged a 32% yoy growth in net profits at just Rs492 crore. If course, an exceptional gain of Rs375.60 crore came from the Joint Venture (JV) with Bel SA of France. This strategic partnership with the famed French cheese-maker was to enable Indian consumers to avail the benefits of an exquisite variety of healthy and delicious cheese at reasonable prices.

Cheese has been a largely unexplored food category in the Indian space and this joint venture has the nascent characteristics to make cheese a regularly consumed food item in the Indian market. Apart from this JV, Britannia’s strong numbers also stem from their continual focus on rural reach something that has stood them in good stead over the years. 

This rural focus has shifted the paradigm of growth momentum heavily in their favour over the last few quarters. In addition, the company also reaped the benefits of economies of scale through horizontal integration into the adjacent croissant and cakes sector. It has also launched new ventures like Biscafe, Golmaal and Marble. Overall, the performance of Britannia has been commendable, despite the pressure from input costs for FMCG companies.