Indian biscuit maker Britannia misses profit estimates, but flags urban demand uptick

Britannia Industries posted first-quarter profit below estimates on Tuesday, but the Indian biscuit maker said urban consumption — dull for a few quarters — is picking up.

The seller of ‘Marie Gold’ and ‘Bourbon’ biscuits joins other domestic consumer goods makers such as Hindustan Unilever and ITC in forecasting early signs of a recovery in urban demand, aided by easing local inflation.

India’s annual retail inflation slowed every month in the quarter, easing to a six-year low in June at 2.1%. That helped spur a “marginal uptick in consumption across both urban and rural markets,” said Varun Berry, managing director and chief executive.

Britannia’s quarterly sales grew 9.8% to 45.35 billion rupees ($516.5 million). The firm had previously flagged rise in popular demand for packaged food and confectionery items such as croissants, wafers and flavoured shakes - usually more likely to be bought on impulse.

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But total spends rose 10.4%, led by a 15% jump in raw material costs. Britannia has been hiking prices to partly offset the higher costs of raw materials such as cocoa, flour and palm oil.

Profits in the reported quarter came in at 5.21 billion rupees, up 3% on-year, but below analysts’ average estimate of 5.7 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.