Geopolitical tension, climate change hit biscuits biz: Britannia

Britannia Industries Limited's biscuit business witnessed headwinds due to the geopolitical tension and climate change in the fiscal year 2024, the FMCG firm said in its annual report. The other immediate threats in the biscuit category are increasing competition and high commodity prices due to climatic changes and other macroeconomic factors, according to the company.

In the upcoming quarter, Britannia has anticipated threats in its rusk and dairy categories due to increasing health expectations, preference for local players, rise in milking prices, and rising trends in input costs like labour and raw materials.

The company's international business may also face some headwinds due to increasing oil prices in the Middle East, geopolitical tensions, mass departure of expatriates, localization of workforce, changes in trade barriers, and currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Britannia's international business witnessed a double-digit value growth across regions for the second year in a row. According to the FMCG firm, the primary growth drivers were an upsurge in revenues in Egypt and Kenya through local operations, deflation in commodity prices, stable double-digit growth in developed markets driven by better penetration and portfolio expansion.

Britannia's consolidated net profit declined by 7.8% in FY24 to Rs 2,139 crore from Rs 2,321 crore in FY23. Its revenue from operation saw a 2.9% growth to Rs 16,186 crore. Britannia's net profit in the June quarter of FY25 stood at Rs 50 crore.

The company forecasted stress in the upcoming months due to geopolitical tensions, muted global financial forecasts, and irregular crop patterns. "The short-term prospects for could be impacted by changes in the prices of input commodities like wheat, sugar, milk, chocolate, and edible oil," it mentioned in its annual report. However, the arrival of a favourable monsoon may result in positive harvests and help stabilize demand and prices.