Nestle India Q2 results: Standalone net profit climbs 9% YoY; shares fall up to 4% on margin miss

Nestle India, the country's leading FMCG company, on Thursday posted its September quarter results. The company for the July-September quarter posted a standalone net profit of Rs 986.4 crore. In the same quarter last year, the company's net profit was at Rs 908 crore, implying a nearly 9 per cent increase year-on-year.

Total sales at the company during the review quarter has been reported at Rs 5.074.8 crore, logging a 1.3 per cent growth.

Domestic sales, meanwhile, registered a growth of 1.2 per cent during the review period. 

EBITDA or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at Rs 1,150 crore. Zee Business research estimated the same to log 5 per cent growth on-year to Rs 1,287 crore as against Rs 1,228 crore last year.

Margin at the FMCG company came in lower at 22 per cent during Q2. Zee Business Research estimated to see a contraction during the review period but to 23.9 per cent versus 24.4 per cent in the same period a year-ago. 

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India, commenting on the results stated, “Despite a challenging external environment with muted consumer demand and high commodity prices especially for coffee and cocoa, we remained resilient in our pursuit to deliver growth. This quarter, 5 of our top 12 brands grew at double-digit. However, some key brands witnessed pressure due to softer consumer demand and we focus on them and have in place robust action plans."

It is heartening to note that in the last 9 months, 65% of our top 12 brands including MAGGI noodles showed positive volume growth, added Narayanan.

Nestle share price performance

As results came in largely below estimates, the stock saw a sharp fall and last traded down by nearly 4 per cent at Rs 2,371.6 per share on the BSE.