Britannia has a good day as profit rises 63%

Britannia Limited (BIL), India's leading publicly held food company has reported a strong 62 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 100 crore for the third quarter of FY14 as compared to the corresponding quarter of last financial year, backed by robust control of costs and reduction in interest outflow. Consolidated revenue grew 10.2 per cent to Rs 1,772 crore.

The company said, in an intensely competitive market, it leveraged its brands and focused on fundamental levers of operation to deliver a consolidated double digit revenue growth, with 250 bps increase in operating margin.

The company remained silent on whether its managing director (MD), Vinita Bali, would be replaced by recently appointed executive director Varun Berry. However, the results declaration, which usually comes with a quote of Bali on the performance of the company, did not carry a perspective from her.

Since Berry joined Britannia as its chief operating officer in January last year, the maker of Good Day, Tiger and a range of other biscuits has been on the rise.

The rise of Berry during the past year has sparked the rumour that Bali, 58, was on her way out after eight years. Her recent actions have only helped strengthen the rumour. Bali, recently, sold 75,000 shares in Britannia and the company announced it had completed a settlement of 100,000 shares in stock options to its managing director.