India's Honasa Consumer surges 20% as Q2 profit nearly doubles (updated)

Honasa Consumer

23/11/2023 04:39

(Adds analyst quote, details, context)
       BENGALURU, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Shares of Honasa Consumer
 HONA.NS  jumped 20% on Thursday, a day after the parent of
beauty-and-personal care products maker Mamaearth reported a
quarterly profit surge.
    Honasa's shares hit the upper circuit at 423.75 rupees, as
of 10:02 a.m. IST.
    Honasa's profit for the quarter ending Sept.30 nearly
doubled to 294.4 million rupees ($3.54 million) from a year ago,
led by strong volume growth and higher margins.
    Core profit margins rose to 8.1% from 6.4% a year ago, while
sales volumes jumped 21%.
    "Honasa Consumer has been a notable outlier among
digital-first beauty and personal care brands in India, expect
sector-leading revenue growth with improving profitability,"
Jefferies analysts said in a note, retaining their "buy" rating.
    About 9 million shares changed hands in early trade compared
with average of 6.2 million shares so far this month.
    Earlier this month, Honasa's $204.3 million IPO was
oversubscribed 7.6 times and the stock has jumped over 24% since
listing on Nov. 7.
    

($1 = 83.2440 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia
Cheema)
 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 9945291420); Reuters
Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))