India's Dalmia Bharat Sugar fourth-quarter profit falls on weak sales

Dhampur Sugar Mills

14/05/2024 15:45

BENGALURU, May 14 (Reuters) - India's Dalmia Bharat
Sugar and Industries  DLMI.NS  reported a near 25% fall in
fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by a drop in sales in its
mainstay refined sugar segment.

    WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    India, the world's second-largest sugar producer, has not
allowed exports in the current season to keep a lid on local
prices, due to the elections and uneven rainfall in the primary
sugarcane-growing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
    Peers Dhampur Sugar Mills  DAMS.NS  and Dwarikesh Sugar
Industries  DWAR.NS  too reported a fall in their respective
quarterly profits.
    With the majority of India's sugar mills having completed
crushing for the 2023/24 season, output as of May 1 stands at
31.59 million metric tons, according to the National Federation
of Cooperative Sugar Factories, down 1.8% from the previous full
year.

    CONTEXT
    India's sugar consumption this year is poised to hit a
record high as demand during the peak summer season gets a boost
from heat waves and the mobilisation of millions for elections
in the scorching temperatures.
    Dalmia Bharat Sugar's major business segments include sugar
and distillery. It supplies sugar to companies like Coca-Cola,
PepsiCo, Britannia, Walmart India, Dabur, United Breweries, and
Carlsberg.
    The company also sells ethanol to Indian Oil Corporation,
Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, according to its
website.
   
    BY THE NUMBERS
    Dalmia Bharat Sugar reported a consolidated net profit of
933.7 million Indian rupees ($11.2 million) for the quarter
ended March 31, compared with 1.24 billion rupees last year.
    Revenue from operations fell 34.8% to 7.5 billion rupees.
    Total sugar sales fell 42.2% during the quarter.
    The company recommended a dividend of 1.25 rupees per share
for fiscal 2024.
        
    GRAPHIC
    
    
    
        
   

($1 = 83.4800 Indian rupees)

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January-March stock performance of Dalmia Bharat Sugar, peers   
https://tmsnrt.rs/3UEc7UJ
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 (Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K
and Vijay Kishore)
 ((ashish.chandra@thomsonreuters.com; +91 7982114624;))