Tata Tea Ltd Quarter 1 Results -2009/10

CONSOLIDATED:

• Consolidated Income at Rs 1296 cr up by 16%
• Improved brand performance in most major markets.
• Profit prior to exceptional items at Rs 150 cr up by 25%

STANDALONE:

• Income from Operations at Rs 420 cr up by 33%
• Strong Branded tea performance
• Profit prior to exceptional at Rs 65 cr up by 15%
• Profit after tax at Rs 43 cr up by 14%

Tata Tea Ltd announced its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 this afternoon. The Company’s Consolidated world wide total operating income for the quarter at Rs. 1296 crores grew by 16% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, driven by improved branded sales in most major markets and favourable exchange rate movements. The profit before exceptional items at Rs 150 crores has risen by 25% due to improved operating performance and lower interest costs. However, there is a consolidated net loss after Tax of Rs. 19 crores, which is mainly attributable to the translation impact on short term deployment of cash and foreign currency hedges due to movement of sterling versus the dollar. Excluding exceptional items, Earnings per share for the quarter (not annualized) is Rs 13.51 as compared to Rs 11.45 for the previous year, reflecting the improvement in the underlying performance.

The stand alone Tata Tea results reported Income from Operations for the quarter at Rs 420 crores increased by 33% driven by strong performance of the Company’s branded tea operations. Profit prior to exceptional items at Rs 65 crores increased by 15% from the corresponding quarter of the previous year due to improvement in operations partly offset by hardening of commodity costs and inflationary increase in input costs. Profit before Tax at Rs 63 crores and the Profit after Tax at Rs 43 crores improved by 15% and 14% respectively over the same period of the previous year.
Issued by: L Krishnakumar

For further information, contact:

Vaishnavi Corporate Communications
Kolkata, Tel : 033 – 2449-4177 / 2223-5217