TATA TEA 2006/07 Q1 Results

TATA TEA 2006/07 Q1 Results

TATA TEA:Income from Operations at Rs 254 cr up by 8%

Brands continue to perform strongly clocking 6% growth

PBT before exceptional items at Rs 59.41 cr up by 37 %

CONSOLIDATED:Consolidated Income at Rs 806 cr up by 12%;

PBT before exceptional items at Rs 117.50 cr up by 21 %;

Tata Tea Ltd announced its results for quarter ended June 30,2006 this afternoon. The stand alone Tata Tea results reported Income from Operations of Rs 254 crores, an improvement of approx 8% over the previous year's corresponding quarter despite exit from a major part of the South India plantations mainly driven by a strong performance of the branded tea sales which increased by 6% and improved export sales.

The Profit before Tax and exceptional items at Rs 59.41 crores was higher than the preceding year's corresponding quarter by 37% driven by improved brand profitability, favourable impact of plantation restructuring and higher investment income. In the previous year's corresponding quarter,the Company had an exceptional income on the sale of estates in South India of approx Rs 11 crores. Despite the absence of any exceptional income in the current year, the Profit before Tax post exceptional items at Rs 57.21 crores and the Profit after Tax at Rs 44.56 are still higher by 9% and 3%, respectively.

The Company's Consolidated world wide total income for the first quarter was Rs 806 crores, an improvement by 12% over the preceding year's turnover for the corresponding period driven by higher branded tea sales in both the domestic and international markets. The consolidated Profit before Tax and exceptional items was Rs 117.50 crores, 21% higher than the previous year, reflecting improved brand profitability, favourable impact of plantation restructuring and higher investment income. However, Profit after Tax at Rs 80 crores was lower compared to previous year's first quarter figure of Rs 86 crores due to higher exceptional income in the previous year's corresponding quarter wherein additional credits of Rs 26 crores were considered on sale of estates by the holding company and curtailment gain in The Tetley Group on account of closure of their defined benefit scheme.

Under Indian GAAP, The Tetley Group's (the Company's 98.58% subsidiary) Income from Operations was Rs 498 crores which was 8% higher than the corresponding quarter's figure. The Profit before Tax and exceptional items at Rs 52.37 crores was higher by 7%.