Britannia Industries has named Rakshit Hargave as its new CEO as the Indian food major reported an increase in second-quarter sales and profits.
Hargave will assume the CEO role on 15 December, succeeding Rajneet Kohli, who resigned in March.
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Executive vice-chairman and managing director Varun Berry has handled the CEO responsibilities on an interim basis since Kohli’s departure.
Hargave joins the business from Birla Opus, the paints business of Grasim Industries, where he had been CEO since November 2021. His work history includes executive roles at Beiersdorf, Lakmé Lever and Hindustan Unilever.
The CEO’s appointment was announced alongside Britannia Industries’ latest results.
The Jim Jam and NutriChoice biscuits maker said net sales for the second quarter stood at Rs47.52bn ($535.6m), a year-on-year increase of 4.1%.
Berry said revenue showed “reasonable growth”, which was “driven by relatively stable commodity prices and sustained efforts to optimise costs across the value chain”.
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By GlobalDataOperating profit rose 22.9% to Rs8.69bn. Net profit attributable to owners came in at Rs6.54bn, up 23.1% from the same period last year.
Berry added: “The recent GST rate rationalisation announced by the government is a welcome step towards stimulating consumer demand and uplifting the overall economic sentiment in the country.
“However, transitional challenges arising from the GST-related changes in supply chain, trade and channels had a short-term impact on business during the latter part of the quarter, which is expected to get normalised progressively in the coming quarter.”
For the full fiscal year that ended 31 March, the Good Day brand owner’s consolidated revenue from operations grew 7% to Rs179.42bn and total comprehensive income edged up 2% to Rs21.84bn.
Net profit for the year rose marginally to Rs21.77bn from Rs21.34bn in the year ago period.
Full-year basic and diluted earnings per share increased 1.8% to Rs90.45.
