Riding on the twin advantages of lowering commodity prices and strong customer penetration, Nestle India showed off a 36.8% growth in net profit to ₹698 crore for Q2, compared to ₹510 crore in the same quarter last year.
Its total sales have grown by 15% to ₹4,658 crore as compared to ₹4,045 in the same quarter last year.
Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and MD of Nestle India said, “I am pleased to share that we have, yet again, delivered robust performance, with all product groups registering double-digit growth. This is the fifth quarter in a row of double-digit growth across all product groups.”
“Commodities such as edible oils, wheat and packaging materials have been in the lower price range. A reversal of price trend is noted in fuels with prices softening in the second quarter after reaching a higher level towards the end of quarter one. In fresh milk, there has been price stability. Robusta prices are elevated and are expected to remain volatile,” the company said in a media release, adding that leading brands like Kitkat, Nescafe and Maggi had done especially well.
The company noted that its domestic sales growth was across categories and saw a 14.6% increase, helped in no small part by conservative pricing, supported by both mix and volume with targeted brand support. The lowering of commodity prices even as raw material costs remained 7% higher on a YoY basis, came down sequentially by 9.3%.
Kitkat and Munch brands’ stellar performance was aided in no small part by increasing consumer engagement and impactful media campaigns, even as the beverage brands saw growth thanks to greater household penetration of Nescafe Classic, Nescafe Sunrise and Nescafe Gold.
Meanwhile, Nestle India’s e-commerce channel contributed to 6.5% of the quarterly sales and continued the growth momentum driven by quick commerce.
“Strong performance is an outcome of kiosk expansion and prioritization of emerging channels,” the company said, adding that the company’s OOH business continues to see strong growth through premiumisation and portfolio transformation initiatives.
