Nestle India posted a 46.2% year-on-year increase in standalone profit for the third quarter of FY26 on Friday, aided by higher demand for packaged food items after GST rate cuts lifted spending.
The Indian unit of Swiss food major Nestle said the net profit rose to Rs 1,018 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, from Rs 696 crore a year earlier. The profit number beat Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 740 crore by a wide margin, taking the company’s shares up as much as 4.04% intra-day on the BSE, the highest since October 2025.
Shares of Nestle India closed trade at Rs 1,331.45 apiece on Friday, up 3.4% on the BSE, with analysts staying positive on the stock. The company’s third-quarter standalone revenue grew nearly 19% to Rs 5,667 crore, an all-time high, driven by broad-based, volume-led growth across product categories and channels. The revenue number was ahead of Street estimates of Rs 5,266 crore for the period.
Volume-Led Growth
Chairman and Managing Director Manish Tiwary said the company delivered its strongest volume growth in nearly five years, aided by capacity expansion, brand investments and a recovery in consumption following GST rate cuts. He did not specify volume growth for the period, but added that all four product groups reported positive volume-led growth, with three recording robust double-digit growth. The company is best-known for brands such as Maggi, Nescafe, KitKat and Milkmaid across categories such as prepared dishes & cooking aids, beverages, confectionary and milk products & nutrition.
Margin Dynamics
Nestle’s earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 9% y-o-y to Rs 1,202 crore, ahead of street estimates of Rs 1,191 crore for the period. Ebitda margin stood at 21.2% in Q3 versus 23.1% reported last year, down 190 basis points, as the company stepped up advertising spends by 42% y-o-y.
Demand has been gradually improving in India as a sustained moderation in inflation and the government’s income and GST tax cuts have taken up discretionary spending.
Tax reductions have helped fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies overcome a quarters-long slowdown in urban demand, which has been hit by weakening wage growth and spiraling living costs.
Peers including Godrej Consumer Products and ITC have reported lower or flat quarterly profit, hit by a charge tied to India’s new labour codes, but Nestle India only recorded a relatively small charge linked to it, experts said.