Indian basmati rice exporter LT Foods' Q1 profit surges on higher prices

LT Foods

28/07/2023 08:22

BENGALURU, July 28 (Reuters) - India's LT Foods
 LTOL.NS , which sells Daawat basmati rice, reported a 53% surge
in quarterly profit on Friday, helped by robust demand for its
packaged rice and strong export prices.
    The rice producer's consolidated profit rose to 1.37 billion
rupees ($16.7 million) in the quarter ended June 30, from 896.9
million rupees, a year earlier.
   Consolidated revenue from operations rose more than 10% to
17.78 billion rupees, spurred by a 24% year-on-year growth in
the company's core basmati and other specialty business.
    Its total expenses rose only about 9% in the quarter, which
helped boost margins.
    LT Foods, which gets 65% of its revenue from exports has
benefited from export prices climbing to a five-year high by
end-June, driven by tight supplies and the government's move to
raise support prices for the key crop in early June.
    India, the world's biggest exporter of rice, had said in May
that it would consider rice shipments only through diplomatic
channels, staying the export curbs on the food crop it imposed
last year in September to cool domestic prices.
    LT Foods' domestic market share increased by 210 basis
points to 29.8% in the quarter, signalling strong demand for the
homegrown staple, said Managing Director and CEO Ashwani Arora.
    Shares of LT Foods rose as much as 3.9% after results on
Friday.

($1 = 82.2375 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@MukherjeeHritam;))