Pepsi India bottler Varun Beverages beats quarterly profit view on strong demand

BENGALURU, May 13 (Reuters) - Varun Beverages reported its first-quarter earnings above market expectations on Monday, as the Pepsi India bottler benefited from an uptick in demand for soft drinks due to an early onset of summer.

Gurugram-based Varun Beverages' consolidated net profit rose to 5.37 billion rupees ($64.3 million) for the quarter ended March 31, from 4.29 billion rupees in the year-ago period. It trounced analysts' estimates of 5.02 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

Consumers opted more for cold beverages amid the sweltering summer heat, helping boost the firm's bottom-line numbers.

Last month, the India Meteorological Department forecast that the country was likely to experience more heat-wave days than normal between April and June.

The franchisee has been manufacturing and bottling PepsiCo-branded drinks for more than three decades and operates across 10 countries.

The company said in an exchange filing that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 23.9% year-on-year.

Varun Beverages, known for producing and bottling various beverages such as Mirinda, Mountain Dew, and Tropicana, said its revenue from operations in the reported quarter rose 11.3% to 43.98 billion rupees year-on-year.

In a volatile trade, the company's shares were down 1% at 1,449 rupees, as of 0711 GMT.

Including session's prices, the stock has climbed 18.4% so far in 2024, compared with a 3% decline in the fast-moving consumer goods index.

($1 = 83.5050 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)