Percy Siganporia, managing director, said, "Our income from operations has improved despite the exit from NPID. The improvement has been driven by strong performance of the branded tea segment. To accommodate the high commodity prices, we have used differential brand pricing without cutting down on pack sizes."
The company's market share in the packet tea segment has grown, in volume terms, from 18.4 per cent last year to 21.4 per cent. Its share, in value, has gone up to 21.6 per cent over 18.9 per cent in the previous year.
The company is a market leader in packet tea volumes but is second to Hindustan Unilever in value.
The latter has a market share of 22.9 per cent.
Tata Tea's standalone net sales for the year grew 8.57 per cent to Rs 1153.43 and net profit grew 2.05 per cent to Rs 312.86 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008. Its consolidated net profit for this quarter grew 96.29 per cent to Rs 117.63 over the corresponding quarter last year and net sales grew 1.5 per cent to Rs 1176.8 crore. Driven by strong performance of the Tetley Group in developed markets, its consolidated income for the year ended March 31, 2008, grew by 8.57 per cent to Rs 4392.31 crore. The net profit grew 316.12 per cent to Rs 1542.55 crore due to the one-time exceptional gain of Rs 1607.52 crore from the Glaceau sale. The company recommended a special one-time dividend of 200 per cent as a result. It also increased its stake in subsidiary Mount Everest Mineral Water to 31.73 per cent during this quarter.
