Bikaji Foods Q3 results: Profit up 14% on strong demand for packaged sweets

India's Bikaji Foods International reported a 14.4% rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, driven by strong demand for its packaged sweets and snacks.
 

Consolidated net profit stood at Rs 46.62 crore ($5.6 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with Rs 40.74 crore a year earlier.
 

Increased purchases of snacks and sweets during the festive season, which typically spans from October to November, helped bolster the company's bottom line.
 

The ethnic snacks segment, which offers crispy, deep-fried snacks and Bhelpuri” a savoury, spicy and crunchy mix, constituted about 63% of the total revenue and grew 15.4% year-on-year.
 

The surge in ethnic segment spurred revenue from operations up 23% at 6.24 billion rupees.
 

Meanwhile, the packaged sweet segment logged the highest growth during the quarter, increasing nearly 83% and outshining ethnic snacks.
 

"The festive season played a significant role, alongside improvements in our operational efficiencies and advantageous pricing of raw materials," Managing Director Deepak Agarwal said in a statement.
 

Shares of Bikaji rose 12.6% during the quarter, outpacing the 10.4% increase in the Nifty FMCG index.