)
Bengaluru-based Tata Coffee Ltd, a Tata Group company, today reported 2.43 times jump in group consolidated net profit at Rs 39 crore for the fourth quarter-ended March 2015 compared to Rs 16 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The net sales of the company has increased 13.3 per cent to Rs 424 crore as against Rs 374 crore in the year ago quarter.
The consolidated operating profit for the period went up 91 per cent to Rs 86 crore from Rs 45 crore a year ago.
The rise in profits was mainly on account of higher sales volume from the plantations segment and value added products. The company’s overseas subsidiary Eight O’ Clock Coffee Company has recorded income of $40 million compared to $36 million, a growth of 11.11 per cent year on year.
The Eight O’ Clock brand continues to gain momentum and the bagged coffee segment has shown improvement in its volumes during the quarter, compared to the corresponding quarter of previous year. In particular, the brand continued to strengthen its presence in the growing single serve segment, the company said in a statement.
The sales and profit performance of the plantation business in India during the current quarter is significantly higher compared to corresponding quarter of the previous year, but are lower for the full year on account of lower crop of coffee and pepper that were available for sale in the preceding quarters. However, the current season’s total production of Coffee and Pepper is higher compared to Previous Year.
The instant coffee/value added business of the company reported good topline sales and volume growth for the full year, with revenues standing at Rs 386 crore, compared to Rs 359 crore for the previous year, an increase of 8 per cent. This growth in sales was driven primarily by higher sales of instant coffee to new geographies, including new varieties of instant coffee developed by the company.
The Board of Directors at their meeting, here on Friday, announced a dividend of Dividend payment of Rs 1.30 per share (face value of Rs 1 each).
The company’s shares ended the day at Rs 90.15 per share, up 0.22 per cent over the previous close.
