FMCG major Nestle India's shares fell by as much as 5% to hit an intraday low of about 16,360 a day after it reported earnings for the December quarter. In the quarter ended December 2020, Nestle India's profit rose 2 percent to 483.3 crores from 472.6 crores during the same quarter last year. As analysts at the brokerage firm Motilal Oswal expected the company to report net profit of 550 crores, the profit numbers declared by Nestle India were below expectations. In the year-ago period, Nestle India's revenue from sales of products increased 9 percent to 3,417.52 crore compared to 3,130.74 crore.
The domestic sales growth of Nestle India was driven by volume and its demand mix in the Out of Home channel further improved during the quarter, but was affected by Covid-19, Nestle India said in a statement. Due to lower coffee exports, its export sales declined 7.7 percent. A final dividend of 65.00 per share of equity amounting to 62.67 crore for 2020 was recommended by the board of Nestle India. The total dividend for 2020 amounts to 200 per share of equity.