Nestle India, on Wednesday, reported a rise of 4.38 per cent in net profit at Rs 655.61 crore in the fourth quarter ended December 2023 as against the net profit of Rs 628.06 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a BSE filing.
Its total revenue from operations also rose to Rs 4,600.42 crore in Q4 CY24 as compared to Rs 4,256.79 crore in a similar period last fiscal.
The company said its domestic sales was up by 8.9 per cent on the back of pricing and mix growth, with strong growth momentum in ecommerce and out-of-home channels.
Nestle India’s total expenses climbed to Rs 3,636.94 crore in Q4 CY24 from Rs 3,427.27 crore in Q4 CY23, as per the regulatory filing.
Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestle India said, “The quarter was marked by an increase in brand investments across all product groups. I am also pleased to note that during the year 2023, our total sales grew by over 13.3 per cent and we crossed Rs 19,000 crore mark.”
“All key brands and product groups have contributed to Nestle India’s consistent growth trajectory,” he shared.
The company’s drinks division saw double-digit growth and Nescafe earned considerable market share. Its milk and nutrition product segment also experienced double-digit growth.
Aside from that, prepared dishes and cooking aids showed a good increase this quarter.
Confectionery also saw strong development. Narayanan further stated that the company’s out-of-home business continues to grow significantly this quarter by focusing on relevant innovations, promising regions and strong penetration in developing channels through the installation of new kiosks in strategic places.
“E-commerce delivered strong growth contributing to 7% of domestic sales in this quarter. Organized trade also witnessed strong growth backed by festive walk-ins and new product launches. The teams excelled in rolling our shopper resonant activities across our large portfolio in both legacy platforms and the fast growing ‘quick commerce,” the company said in a statement.
Sharing about the rural-urban market growth, Narayanan said, “We are very pleased with an uptick in sales in our RUrban markets which has sustained despite the challenging environment. Our RUrban strategies of creating portfolio, infrastructure analytic platforms, activation has supported deeper penetration and distribution expansion that we have witnessed.”
During this quarter, the company expanded its direct coverage and added 5,300 villages, reaching a total of over 196,000 villages, close to 200,000 villages. The FMCG major shared that its customer 2/3 ordering app in urban markets, NesMitra, has resulted in boosting engagement and gaining significant business traction. The NesMitra app has over 7,500 active users, which is steadily increasing, and it has been recognised in the Nestle world for driving efficiency and speed.
“Service excellence and partnership with our retail and distributor partners is our consistent cornerstone of achieving strong results. Innovation and renovation are key components of our business strategy,” the company said.
Nestle India’s board of directors has declared a third interim dividend for the fiscal year 2023-24 of Rs 7 per equity share (face value of Rs 1 each), totaling Rs 674.91 crore, to be paid on and from 5 March 2024.
According to the filing, this is in addition to the first interim dividend of Rs 27 per equity share (face value of Rs 10/-) and the second interim dividend of Rs 140 per equity share (face value of Rs 10 apiece), which were paid on 8 May 2023 and 16 November 2023, respectively.
The face value of the equity share has changed from Rs 10 each to Rs 1 each.
