Britannia has a Good Day
Britannia has currently become the best stock in the entire FMCG lot. With most others putting up a lackluster performance, Britannia has managed to consistently deliver very good numbers. And the stock market has rightly celebrated this by pushing the stock amongst the top gainers on the BSE. The stock, which has closed yesterday at Rs.876, opened higher at Rs.927, hit an intra day high at Rs.949 and is currently at Rs.930, up over 6%. Interestingly, the stock, on the same day last year, 12th Nov 2012, had hit a new 52 week low at Rs.459.
The turnaround in the stock price has happened thanks to he very good performance which the company has been reporting for the past 2 quarters. In Q2FY14 too, it did not disappoint. It posted a 66% (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs.98 crore on a 13% rise in net sales at Rs.1740 crore. OPM was up by a whopping 435 bps at 8.6% and this good numbers were possible due to better products mix, higher price realizations and efficient cost management. The company managed to cap the rise in operating expenses to 8%(YoY) which is what helped boost the overall margins. Moderation in commodity prices also helped keep a cap on the costs. Following these numbers, many brokerage houses have started recommending this stocks in the FMCG space along with ITC.