Varun Beverages Ltd share Price Today

Varun Beverage (VBL) is one of the largest franchisees of PepsiCo in the world. The company produces & distributes carbonated drinks, juices & packaged drinking water in six countries including India.          Some of the PepsiCo brands produced by VBL include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Seven-Up, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Nimbooz, String, Slice, Tropicana, Aquafina among others.

• The company has operations in India (except Andhra Pradesh, J&K & Ladakh), Sri Lanka, Nepal, Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Varun Beverages witnessed strong volume growth of 24.7%

• Sales were up 37.7% YoY led by 24.7% volume & 10.4% realisation growth
• EBITDA was at ₹ 798 crore, up 50.3% YoY, with margins at 20.5%
• Consequently, PAT was at ₹ 438.6 crore, up 61.8%

Non-Alchoholic Beverages company Varun Beverages announced Q1CY24 results:

• Revenue from operations (net of excise / GST) grew by 10.9% YoY to Rs 43,173.1 million in Q1CY24 as compared to Rs 38,929.8 million in Q1CY23
• Total sales volume grew by 7.2% to 240.2 million cases in Q1CY24 from 224.1 million cases in Q1CY23. During the quarter, India territory grew by 4.4% and International markets by 21.9%, in-spite of delay in the holi festival by 17 days resulting in delayed seasonality cycle.
• Net realization per case increased by 3.5% in Q1CY24 to Rs 179.7 on account of improving product mix in India and higher contribution of international markets which have higher realization per case
• Gross margins improved by 385 bps to 56.3% from 52.4% during Q1CY24 primarily due to reduced PET prices as well as the focus on reducing sugar content and light-weighting of packaging. Approx. 46% of our consolidated sales volumes come from Low sugar / No sugar products.
• EBITDA increased by 23.9% to Rs 9,887.6 million YoY and EBITDA margin improved by 240 bps to 22.9% in Q1CY24, led by higher gross margins and increased realization. This improvement is in-spite of rise in fixed costs associated with the acquisition of new territories and commissioning of new greenfield plants for the season.
• PAT increased by 25% to Rs 5,479.8 million from Rs 4,385.7 million in Q1CY23 driven by volume growth, increase in net realization and improved profit margins

Commenting on the performance for Q1CY24 Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman, Varun Beverages Limited said, "In-spite of delay in the holi festival by 17 days resulting in delayed seasonality cycle, we are pleased to report a reasonably strong overall operational and financial performance in the first quarter of the year. We achieved a consolidated sales revenue growth of 10.9% with a break-up of volume growth of 7.2% and net realization per case growth of 3.5% in Q1, reflecting an improved product mix in India and higher contributions from international markets. Overall, EBITDA increased by 23.9% year on year and PAT increased by 24.9%.

Further, our sustainability efforts, including the focus on reducing sugar content, removal of corrugated pads in packaging, and light-weighting of packaging material have started showing results by increase in gross margins. During last quarter, we also published our sustainability report in accordance with the GRI reporting standards. We are committed to transparency and accountability in our sustainability reporting practices, and we believe that using the GRI Standards allows us to provide comprehensive and comparable information to our stakeholders.

To fulfil our growth commitment in our core market i.e. India, we commenced three new greenfield facilities located in Supa, Maharashtra; Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh; and Khordha, Odisha. This expansion is designed to meet the rising demand for beverages in India and support our long-term growth trajectory.

Our greenfield plant at DRC is expected to start by the next quarter.

A significant highlight of the quarter was the successful completion of the strategic acquisition of The Beverage Company (BevCo) in South Africa. This move has notably expanded our footprint and fortified our presence across several dynamic markets in the African region.

Furthermore, Varun Beverages Morocco SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary, has entered into an Exclusive Snacks Appointment Agreement to manufacture and package Cheetos in Morocco, by May 2025. This agreement complements our existing distribution of PepsiCo’s snack portfolio, marking another step forward in our strong symbiotic partnership.

In nutshell, we have fueled three growth engines which shall gradually and consistently contribute to revenue and profitability growth in the Company. First growth engine is the South Africa’s combined territory with Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and Madagascar. Second growth engine is entry into new territory of DRC where PepsiCo is not present at all as of now, the commercial production here from our new state of the art greenfield plant is expected to start from the next quarter. The third growth engine is entry into snack food production by May 2025 in Morocco.”

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