Britannia Industries, India's leading food company, reported consolidated sales of Rs 3,554 crore with a growth of 6% for the quarter. Consolidated net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 384 crore. On a 24-month basis (for six months ended 30 September 2021), the consolidated sales and net profit grew 21% and 18%, respectively.

Commenting on the performance, Varun Berry, managing director, said, "During the quarter, the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 started receding, and the economic activity started picking up. However, inflationary trends remained rampant around the globe across sectors.

Our growth of 6% this quarter over a high base of last year and a 24-month growth of 21% in the current year is a testimony to our people's strong building blocks and commitment. In line with our strategy, we continued to increase direct distribution and improve our rural footprint. In this year, we saw higher growth in market share and as a result, we significantly reinforced our market leadership.

We launched Milk Bikis Classic in Tamil Nadu to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Brand & expanded the presence of a unique bridge snack product, Potazos, across the country. This quarter also saw the launch of Treat Stix and Marble Cake to create excitement in wafers and cake categories.

On the cost front, the global economy witnessed supply-led constraints across various input materials fuelling inflation. As a result, we are witnessing unprecedented inflation in market prices of palm oil @ 54%, industrial fuel @ 35%, and packaging materials @ 30% leading to overall inflation in the quarter of ~14%. While we have partially mitigated the impact through strategic forward covers and accelerated cost efficiency programs, we have also initiated necessary price increases across the portfolio to address the cost-push and normalize profitability. We are confident that our resilient Brands and strategic growth initiatives will hold us on a path of profitable share gain in the future.

I am happy to inform you that our first Sustainability Report was released this quarter, confirming our commitment to the Environment, Social & Governance framework. The ESG milestones that we have set out for ourselves have been tied up across the organization, and the team is confident of achieving them."