Nestle India fourth-quarter net vaults 60% to Rs312 cr

Nestle India Ltd, maker of Maggi instant noodles and Kit-Kat chocolates, has reported a 59.6 per cent jump in its fourth-quarter (Oct-Dec 2017) net profit at Rs312 crore ($48.68 million), boosted by higher local sales.

The Indian arm of Swiss food giant Nestle had reported a net profit of Rs195 crore for the previous-year quarter ended 31 December 2016,

Nestle India said its revenue from domestic sales rose 10.8 per cent to Rs2,401 crore during the October-December 2017 quarter, a growth of about 11.8 percent year-on-year.

The company had informed BSE that the board of directors of the company at today's meeting would also consider recommendation of final dividend for 2017, if any, for approval of the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the company.

Nestle India has entered the pet food segment in India by setting up its wholly-owned subsidiary Purina Petcare India Pvt Ltd. The company on Monday said that it has launched premium dog food brand Purina Supercoat in the country.

Varindra Sewak, managing director, Purina PetCare, said, ''With the launch of Supercoat in India, we kick-start our mission to raise the standards for pet nutrition.'' He said that pet owners in India are increasingly becoming aware and are focusing on providing the best nutrition for the pets to ensure their health and well being. ''We will bring our global portfolio to India to cater to these consumers and become a significant player in the rapidly growing pet food category,'' he added

The company said that with an estimated 19 million pets, the domestic pet food industry has a huge potential to grow and is expected to double in size in the next five years. ''With the launch into the Indian market, Nestle Purina PetCare will be investing for the long term and aims to have a robust portfolio of its global brands to meet the needs of pets,'' the company added in a statement.