India's Adani Wilmar swings to Q1 profit on strong oils, food sales; shares jump

Patanjali Foods

29/07/2024 08:55

BENGALURU, July 29 (Reuters) - India's Adani Wilmar
 ADAW.NS  reported a first-quarter profit on Monday, compared
with a year-ago loss, helped by higher sales of its edible oils
and foods such as basmati rice, sending its shares up more than
6% in afternoon trading.
    The company, a joint venture between Indian ports-to-power
Adani group and Singapore's Wilmar International  WLIL.SI ,
reported a consolidated net profit of 3.13 billion rupees ($37.4
million) for the April-June quarter.
    That compared with a year-ago loss of 789.2 million rupees.
    A 2% year-on-year rise in prices of palm oil -- a key raw
material -- helped power an 8% jump in revenue in Adani Wilmar's
mainstay edible oil segment.
    Sales volumes rose 12% in the business, which includes the
'Fortune' brand of oil and accounts for three-fourths of the
company's total revenue.
    The stability in edible oil prices augurs well and the
consumer shift to branded staples is also benefitting the
business, said CEO and Managing Director Angshu Mallick.
    Revenue from the company's foods unit, which includes soya
chunks and basmati rice, grew 40%, with volumes surging 42%.
    Adani Wilmar, which has also been expanding its
distribution, said overall revenue increased 10% to 141.69
billion rupees.
    Earlier this month, Patanjali Foods  PAFO.NS , which makes
'Ruchi Gold' brand of edible oils, reported a threefold jump in
quarterly profit, also benefitting from stable edible oil prices
and higher demand for its packaged foods.
    'Saffola' oil-maker Marico  MRCO.NS  is set to report
results next month.
    Adani Wilmar's shares were last up 6.4%, cutting their
losses for the year to 2.6%. Patanjali Foods's stock has risen
about 7% in 2024, while Marico's has jumped nearly 24%.
 
 ($1 = 83.7275 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Ashna Teresa Britto in
Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))