BENGALURU/CHENNAI (Reuters) – India’s Patanjali Foods reported a threefold jump in quarterly profit on Friday, as the consumer goods maker benefited from stable edible oil prices and higher demand for its packaged foods.
Branded cooking oil sellers including Saffola parent Marico, Fortune brand owner Adani Wilmar and Patanjali typically book higher profits when edible oil prices are stable, according to industry executives.
Patanjali’s profit after tax rose to 2.63 billion Indian rupees ($31.44 million) for the quarter ended June 30 from 877.5 million rupees a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.
The Ruchi Gold oil maker, which brings in nearly three-fourth of its revenue from its edible oil business, said the reduced volatility in the prices drove profit growth, with expenses decreasing 11% in the first quarter.
Patanjali also said revenue from its foods and consumer goods business increased marginally even as its edible oil segment fell due to a heat waves-triggered drop in demand.
Overall revenue dropped 7.6% to 71.73 billion rupees.
Patanjali is the first major consumer goods maker to report earnings. Larger peers Adani Wilmar and Marico expect an uptick in quarterly sales, according to quarterly updates earlier this month.
($1 = 83.6640 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
