(Reuters) – India’s Heritage Foods posted a 60% rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday, buoyed by strong demand for dairy products.
The company’s shares reversed course to trade 3% higher after the results.
The dairy products maker’s consolidated net profit stood at 430.5 million rupees ($5 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2024, from 269 million rupees a year ago.
The company’s revenue from operations climbed 10% on-year to 10.34 billion rupees, while total expenses rose 8% from year-ago in the reported period.
For further results highlights, click here.
KEY CONTEXT
Rising levels of income and a growing preference for healthier foods are driving the demand for dairy products in India, analysts said, adding that the consumption of butter, curd, ice cream, cheese and yogurt is expected to be the primary catalyst spurring this growth.
Rivals Dodla Dairy and Hatsun Agro Products have yet to report their third-quarter earnings.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit Mean # of Stock to Div
growth growth rating* analyst price yield
s target** (%)
Heritage Foods 16.96 10.29 14.40 40.81 Strong Buy 2 0.72 0.57
Dodla Dairy 22.24 13.96 14.95 22.27 Strong Buy 3 0.75 0.56
Hatsun Agro Product 46.14 19.62 12.93 34.53 Hold 2 1.03 0.95
Parag Milk Foods 15.03 8.83 9.38 – Strong Buy 1 0.66 0.29
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
OCTOBER-DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG
— $1 = 86.3425 Indian rupees
(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
