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Namrata Singh
Mumbai, May 26: The board of Britannia Industries has recommended a 1:2 bonus issue in its meeting here on Wednesday. The equity capital will consequently increase to Rs 27.8 crore from Rs 18.6 crore.
The company has reported a 37.02 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 39.6 crore for the year ended March 1999, as against Rs 28.9 crore last year. Sales crossed the thousand-crore sales mark to touch Rs 1,030.1 crore during the period, which marks a 21.5 per cent increase over Rs 847.8 crore last year.
Operating profit increased by 40.16 per cent to Rs 67 crore from Rs 47.8 crore. Operating profit margins improved to 6.5 per cent during the year from 5.6 per cent in the previous year, while net profit margins improved marginally to 3.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent last year.
Interest costs increased to Rs 6.6 crore from Rs 4.9 crore. Depreciation was higher at Rs 15.9 crore as against Rs 11.8 crore. Provision for taxation at Rs 18 crore was higher as compared to Rs 13.5 crore in the previous year.
Analystsexpect the company to post better margins in the current fiscal. According to Alchemy Share & Stock Brokers analyst Deven Sangoi, the full impact of initiatives taken in the dairy business, including the launch of flavoured milk, will come in the current fiscal and improve margins. Analysts said that product innovation will be a key driver for growth in the current fiscal.
Gross profit for the year stood at Rs 73.5 crore as compared to Rs 54.2 crore in the previous year. Earnings per share increased by 37 per cent to Rs 21.31 from Rs 15.58 per share. The company said that the growth in earnings was achieved mainly through all-round cost savings and productivity improvement.
The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 5.50 per share on the existing equity share capital.
The share price of Britannia Industries at the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at Rs 1,330, which was lower as compared to its previous close of Rs 1,432. The company has incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 21.8 crore as part of its ongoingindustrial restructuring plan to upgrade manufacturing facilities with focus on new technology and modern packaging system.
A company press release said that growth in sales was achieved mainly through satisfactory performance in the core bakery business and consolidation of its dairy operations.
Biscuit volumes are up by 16 per cent on the back of its mass market brand `Tiger' which was recently launched in a Cashew Badam variant. The company has also made a foray into the snacking segment with the `Snax' range of baked products. In the dairy business, the company marked an entry into flavoured milk under the `Zip-Sip' brand in the last quarter of the 1999 fiscal.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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