Britannia Industries shares plunged 3.91 per cent to ₹5,893.50 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, erasing ₹5,978 crore in market value, after Vice-Chairman and CEO Varun Berry resigned with immediate effect on November 10. The stock opened at ₹5,950, down from its previous close of ₹6,133.50, with high trading volumes of 16.25 lakh shares indicating investor nervousness.
Analyst reactions mixed
Motilal Oswal maintained its Buy rating with a target price of ₹7,150. However, analysts acknowledged near-term pressure due to Berry’s sudden departure despite a month-long gap before new CEO Rakshit Hargave joins on December 15. The brokerage highlighted Berry’s 13-year transformation of Britannia, during which EBITDA margins jumped from 7 per cent to 18 per cent and the company delivered revenue, EBITDA and PAT CAGR of 10 per cent, 18 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, during FY13-25.
Yes Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral with a revised target of ₹6,520, citing limited upside. The brokerage noted the stock trades at 60x/52x FY26E/FY27E earnings, building in 13.7 per cent earnings CAGR over FY25-27.
Strong legacy, short-term pressure
For the September quarter, Britannia reported 4.1 per cent revenue growth to ₹4,752 crore and 23 per cent profit growth to ₹655 crore. However, GST implementation disrupted business, with September seeing a 6-7 per cent impact. N Venkataraman, Executive Director and CFO, will serve as interim CEO until Hargave’s arrival.