Shares of Britannia Industries soared to record highs on Thursday, a day after the maker of Good Day and Little Hearts biscuits reported its third-quarter profit more than doubled.
Shares of Britannia soared 5.1% to an all-time high of Rs 4,595. They were up 4% in late afternoon trading, their biggest one-day gain since November 7, when they jumped 8.8% after solid second-quarter results.
Third-quarter profit soared 151% to Rs 9.32 billion ($114 million), the company said on Wednesday, citing higher prices, strong demand and a one-off gain of Rs 3.76 billion from a stake sale.
Britannia’s operating margin rose 330 basis points, which the company said was driven by higher prices and lower raw material costs.
Packaged food companies have been raising prices and adjusting package sizes to boost profit margins amid rising commodity and shipping costs.
Analysts said that Britannia has also been investing in launching new products, such as Biscafe and Golmaal biscuits, which will help it maintain market share as consumers cut back on discretionary spending.
This helped its consolidated total operating income rise 17.4% to Rs 4,197 crore last quarter.
Shares of Britannia were the second-biggest gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index, which fell 0.13%.