Nestle India posts record sales growth in Q4FY18; PAT up 60% yoy

Nestle posted net profit of Rs 311.83 crore, rising by 59.57% compared to Rs 195.41 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

The Nestle India's noodle brand Maggi displayed in a supermarket. Photo: IANS

FMCG-player Nestle India posted a whopping 60% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended December 2017 (Q4FY18) period.

Nestle India follows calendar year for financial performance, therefore, this would be its fourth quarter.

Nestle posted net profit of Rs 311.83 crore, rising by 59.57% compared to Rs 195.41 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

However, Q4FY18 net profit declined by 9.13% from Rs 343.17 crore of the preceding quarter.

Operating profit and net profit in percentage of sales are positively impacted by 110 basis points and
70 basis points respectively as the percentages have been calculated on lower reported sales.

Net sales came in at Rs 2,589.64 crore during the period, which grew by 10.92% from Rs 2,334.78 crore in Q4FY17, and was also up by 3.56% from Rs 2,500.67 crore in Q3FY18.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India, said, "It is extremely pleasing that we ended year 2017 on a strong note by reaching a historic milestone of over Rs 10,000 Crores in Revenue, in a year where we had to adapt to significant changes in the external environment."

Despite reporting positive net sales, GST hampered the true potential of the growth.

Nestle mentioned that consequent to the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) with effect from July 1, 2017, VAT/Sales Tax, Excise duty etc. have been subsumed into GST and accordingly the same is not recognised as part of sales as per the requirements of Ind AS 18.

"This has resulted in lower reported sales in the current year in comparison to the sales reported under the pre-GST structure of indirect taxes. With the change in structure of indirect taxes, expenses are also being reported net of taxes," it added.

Domestic sales growth was at 8.2%. On a comparable basis the domestic sales, Nestle estimated growth at 11.8% due to increase in volumes including rebuild of MAGGI Noodles, supplemented by better underlying realisations.

Export sales of the company increased by 0.9% during the period. As on December 2017, operating cash flow was at Rs 1,818 crores.

For the year end, Nestle's profit was at Rs 1,225.19 crore, increasing by 22.35% from Rs 1,001.36 crore in FY17, while net sales were at Rs 10,135.11 crore, rising by 7.71% as against Rs 9,409.60 crore of previous fiscal.

The Board of Directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 23 per equity share amounting to Rs 221.76 crore for the year 2017.

Total dividend for 2017 aggregates to Rs 86 per equity share which includes three interim dividends of Rs 15.00 per equity share paid on 2 June 2017, while Rs 15.00 per equity share paid on August 16, 2017 and Rs 33.00 per equity share paid on December 22, 2017.