Britannia to take judicious price hikes to manage profitability, says MD, Varun Berry

Britannia Industries, a leading food company, announced on May 2, 2022, that it has judiciously increased its prices in the January-March quarter due to cost inflation and will continue to implement such calibrated increases in order to maintain profitability.

The Wadia group firm has "continued to take price increases judiciously and remained aggressive on the cost front," said Britannia Industries Managing Director Varun Berry in an earning statement of the company.

Geopolitical factors resulted in a further spike in inflation during the January-March quarter of FY22, according to the company.

"We shall further take calibrated price increases and drive cost leadership to manage profitability," said Wadia.

In the fourth quarter ended March 2022, Britannia Industries' consolidated net profit increased by 4.96 per cent to Rs 377.95 crore. During the quarter, it generated revenue from operations of Rs 3,550.45 crore, up 13.40 percent.

There are several FMCG companies that are facing cost pressure and have increased prices to maintain their margins and profitability.

Last week, FMCG major HUL talked about near term challenges such as "significant inflation and slowing market growth".

"While there are near term concerns around significant inflation and slowing market growth, we are confident of the medium to long term prospects of the Indian FMCG sector and remain focused on delivering a Consistent, Competitive, Profitable and Responsible growth," HUL CEO and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta had said. Other FMCG players Marico and Godrej Consumer Products Ltd have expressed similar concerns over inflation in commodities due to geopolitical tensions.

"The Indian FMCG industry witnessed a consumption slowdown over the last few months. The sector continued to be hit hard by higher inflation levels, leading to successive price increases, and impacting volumes

Marico in its quarterly update for Q4 FY22 had said: "While companies affected price hikes across FMCG categories to cope with the cost-push, persistent inflation continued to hurt consumer wallets across rural and urban."

(With Inputs from PTI)