Aug 6 (Reuters) – India’s Britannia Industries reported first-quarter profit below market expectations on Thursday, as higher expenses linked to the Middle East conflict overshadowed stronger demand for its packaged foods.
Consolidated profit rose 14% to 5.91 billion rupees ($62.07 million) for the quarter ended June 30. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 6.05 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has saddled corporations worldwide with higher energy, freight and commodity costs, squeezing margins and prompting price increases for everything from packaged foods to tyres.
Britannia’s cost of materials consumed climbed 10% to 28 billion rupees during the quarter.
Revenue rose 8% to 50 billion rupees, above analysts’ estimates of 49.86 billion rupees.
($1 = 95.2200 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Janane Venkatraman)
