Britannia shares fall 3% on slowdown concerns

NEW DELHI: Shares of Britannia Industries fell over 2 per cent in morning trade on Friday after it acknowledged a slowdown in market place in recent months in a BSE filing.

The FMCG major on Thursday reported a 13.81 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 300.07 crore for the third quarter ended December 31.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 263.65 crore in the October-December period a year ago.


While the numbers were up, the management signalling a slowdown in market place proved to be negative for the prospects of the company. "We have witnessed a slowdown in market place in the recent months," the company said in a BSE filing.

The company, however, expects that the steps taken in the Interim Budget to boost rural consumption will help it neutralise this slowdown.

Global brokerage Macquarie has maintained 'Underperform' view on the stock, with a target price of Rs 2,335 per share, highlighting that the domestic volume growth at nearly 7 per cent was below estimates.

Shares of the company closed 3.23 per cent down at Rs 3,109.15 on BSE.