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

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's Adani Wilmar 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, 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, 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 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)