BRITANNIA

** Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS down ~2% to 5,523 rupees following Q1 results

** 'Bourbon' biscuits maker misses Q1 profit estimates as cost inflation in key commodities and high competition crimp margins

** Macquarie says Britannia's comments, pointing to a heightened competitive landscape across categories, are concerning

** Adds, EBITDA, which was flat y/y came below its estimates

** BRIT rated 'hold' on average by 34 analysts; media PT at 5,824, implying a 5.4% upside to current price - as per data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, Britannia shares up ~16%

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS reported first-quarter profit below estimates on Tuesday.

The company, which sells 'Marie Gold' and 'Bourbon' biscuits, reported consolidated net profit of 5.21 billion rupees ($59.3 million).

Analysts, on average, had expected 5.7 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 87.8470 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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** Britannia Industries BRIT.NS climb 0.8%; consumer goods and benchmark indexes down over 1%

** Biscuit maker's Q4 profit rises due to price hikes, which Nomura pegs at 6%

** Brokerages say 9% rev growth of 9% largely met estimates, while profit growth of 4% beat view

** Most analysts hold ratings; avg rating is equivalent to "buy", similar to most on 15-member Nifty FMCG .NIFTYFMCG

** Stock has gained 15% YTD, second-highest on index that is down 2.4% this year

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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May 8 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• Q4 CONSOL NET PROFIT 5.6 BILLION RUPEES; IBES EST. 5.18 BILLION RUPEES

• Q4 CONSOL TOTAL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 44.32 BILLION RUPEES; IBES EST. 43.97 BILLION RUPEES

• - RECOMMENDED FINAL DIVIDEND OF 75 RUPEES/SHARE

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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May 1 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• RECEIVES ORDER FROM ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER OF CGST & CX

• ORDER DEMANDS TAX OF 254.2 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE88w2lW

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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March 24 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD - JHAGADIA PLANT OPERATIONS PARTIALLY AFFECTED BY STRIKE

• BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD - IN DISCUSSIONS WITH WORKERS TO RESOLVE STRIKE

• BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD - ASSESSING IMPACT OF STRIKE, MANAGING DEMAND THROUGH AVAILABLE RESOURCES

Source text: ID:nBSE6DqYSk

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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March 6 (Reuters) - India's Britannia Industries BRIT.NS said on Thursday that its Chief Executive Officer Rajneet Singh Kohli has resigned, effective March 14.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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Feb 21 (Reuters) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL.NS:

• NSE: BPCL AND BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES BEING EXCLUDED FROM NIFTY 50

• NSE: JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES AND ZOMATO BEING INCLUDED IN NIFTY 50

• NSE: CHANGES IN NIFTY 50 STOCKS SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM MARCH 28

Source text: [ID:]

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** Shares of Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS up as much as 2.2% on Q3 results to 5065 rupees

** Co reports 6% volume growth y/y in despite "ongoing subdued demand" and "increased competitive pressures"

** Net profit growth of 4.8% aided by lower employee costs and advertising spends, analysts say

** Gross margin contraction of more than 500bps higher than expected due to inflation in key commodities - JPMorgan

** Analysts see green shoots from trade promotions and distribution network expansion aiding volume growth amid ongoing margin pressure

** Stock rated "Hold" on avg by 33 analysts - LSEG

** Avg PT of 5421.88 rupees provides a 7.7% upside to current stock price

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

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Adds background, revenue in paragraphs 4-8

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS beat third-quarter profit estimates on Thursday, as price hikes helped it counter the impact of a rise in commodity prices.

The company, which sells 'Jim Jam' and 'NutriChoice' biscuits, reported a 5% increase in consolidated net profit to 5.82 billion rupees ($66.43 million) for the three months ended December 31.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 5.21 billion rupees, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Consumer staple companies such as Britannia, Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS and Nestle India NEST.NS have had to contend with inflation in key commodities such as palm oil, cocoa and sugar.

As a result, the companies raised prices modestly to maintain margins.

Its revenue for the quarter rose 8% to 45.93 billion rupees.

Overall expenses rose 9% to 38.75 billion rupees.

($1 = 87.6130 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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By Praveen Paramasivam

Feb 1 (Reuters) - India's plans to cut personal income tax rates will put more disposable income in the hands of the people and eventually boost consumption in the world's fifth-largest economy, executives from automobile and consumer firms said on Saturday.

This comes after the government said that people earning up to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) per year will not have to pay any taxes, raising its threshold from 700,000 rupees. It also cut tax rates for people earning above the new threshold.

Consumption in the Indian economy has been under stress in the last few quarters as shoppers tightened their purse strings amid stubborn inflation and modest wage growth.

"Tax reforms benefiting the middle class will increase disposable income, further fuelling demand across essential and aspirational categories," Aasif Malbari, CFO of Godrej Consumer Products GOCP.NS, said.

The government's announcement sent the shares of consumer goods .NIFTYFMCG, autos .NIFTYAUTO and realty <.NIFTYREAL> firms up by 1.7%-3.6% on Saturday.

"The tax cut is going to be a helpful factor in accelerating demand for various kinds of consumer products," RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India MRTI.NS, told TV channel ET Now.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Sonia Cheema)

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Jan 23 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• GETS TAX DEMAND OF TOTAL AMOUNT 43.3 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE8rYbgc

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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Jan 16 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• GOT TOTAL TAX DEMAND ORDER FOR 11.6 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nNSE2ymlzk

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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** Shares of Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS down 13.8% in November, set for their biggest monthly drop since June 2006

** Stock currently up 0.2% at 4,934.95 rupees

** BRIT among top 5 biggest monthly pct losers on blue-chip Nifty 50 index as well as FMCG stocks .NIFTYFMCG that are down 1.2% and 2.5%

** BRIT reported smaller-than-expected Q2 profit in mid-Nov due to poor demand from inflation-wary urban customers, sending its shares down by more than 12% in two sessions

** Downbeat results also led stock to its worst week in 24 years; the stock was up by just 0.35% on the day before the results

** Avg rating on stock has fallen to "hold" from "buy" following post-results downgrades - LSEG

** Stock has 13 "hold" ratings, its most in at least two years

** YTD, BRIT down ~8%, among worst-performing stocks on Nifty 50 and Nifty FMCG index that are up 11% and ~2%, respectively

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of consumer goods maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS fall 1.9% to 4,798.5 rupees, their lowest level since early-May

** BRIT top loser on Nifty FMCG index .NIFTYFMCG, which is down 0.5%

** Co on Tuesday said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a notice over the use of a preservative in one of the batches of its product

** Co did not disclose which product was flagged by FSSAI, but says it expects no material impact on financials or operations

** More than 448,000 shares change hands, 1.1x its 30-day avg

** Avg rating of 33 analysts is a "hold"; median PT at 5,435 rupees - LSEG data

** BRIT is down 16% this month, on track for its worst month since June 2006

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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** Britannia Industries BRIT.NS falls 2.5% to 4,920 rupees, lowest in six months

** Stock down 14% this week, set for worst week since January 2000

** BRIT top loser and worst performing stock this week on the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is down 0.04%

** Indian markets are closed on Friday for a holiday

** Consumer goods major posted smaller-than-expected Q2 profit and rev on Monday amid slump in urban consumption

** At least 24 analysts slash PT post results; four downgrade rating

** BRIT rated "hold" on avg now vs "buy" before results; median PT now at 5,450 rupees vs 5,800 rupees earlier - LSEG

** Stock down ~8% YTD

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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By Praveen Paramasivam, Shivangi Acharya

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI, Nov 13 - India's city dwellers are cutting spending on everything from cookies to fast food as persistently high inflation squeezes middle class budgets, threatening the country's brisk economic growth.

Slowing urban spending over the past three to four months has not only hurt the earnings of largest consumer goods firms, it has raised questions about the structural nature of India's long-term economic success.

Since the end of the pandemic, India's economic growth has been driven in large part by urban consumption, however, that now seems to be changing.

"There is a top end – the people with money are spending like that is going out of style," Nestle India Chairman Suresh Narayanan said.

"There used to be a middle segment, which used to be the segment that most of us fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms used to operate in, which is the middle class of the country, that seems to be shrinking."

Nestle India, which makes Kit Kats and other well-known goods, reported its first quarterly revenue drop since the COVID-hit June quarter in 2020.

While there is no officially defined income bracket for Indian middle class households, they are broadly estimated to account for a third of India's 1.4 billion people.

They are considered a key demographic both economically and politically, with middle class frustration seen as a significant factor behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi's weaker election performance this year.

Asia's third-largest economy is expected to expand 7.2% in the financial year ending March 2025, the fastest among its major peers.

Belying those rosy projections, however, are signs of a sharp slowdown in the household sector.

Indian urban consumption hit a two-year low this month, according to an index published by Citibank that captures indicators such as airline bookings, fuel sales and wages.

"While some of the fall could be temporary, the key macro drivers remain unfavourable," Citi's chief India economist Samiran Chakraborty said.

Growth in inflation-adjusted wage costs for listed Indian firms - a proxy for earnings of urban Indians - has remained below 2% for all the three quarters of 2024, well below the 10-year average of 4.4%, data from Citi showed.

Chakraborty cites this as a key factor impacting urban consumption, along with declining savings and tighter rules for personal loans.

Headline inflation has averaged 5% over the past 12 months, but food inflation has held above 8% as weather shocks elevated prices of vegetables, cereals and other essential foods. In October, retail inflation hit a 14-month high of 6.2% while food prices jumped to 10.9%.

Anecdotal data suggests retail sales rose close to 15% year-on-year during the 2024 festive season, which runs from August to November, Nomura said in a note last week, about half last year's pace.

"During this festival season, we have not spent at all," said Rajwanti Dahiya, 60, who survives on her husband's monthly pension of 30,000 Indian rupees ($356.76).

"Savings are low, barely there."

A 'SHRINKING' MIDDLE

India's central bank expects 7.2% GDP growth for the fiscal year ending March 2025 on the back of improved rural demand and a strong services sector.

Higher government investment could also support demand, said Rahul Bajoria, head of India and ASEAN economic research at Bank of America.

"If government spending kicks in, that probably does have some multiplier effects on private consumption spending as well," said Bajoria, who expects GDP growth at 6.8% in the current financial year.

Some are less optimistic with Citi and IDFC First Bank economists expecting GDP growth in the July-September quarter to miss the central bank's projected 7%, weighed by slower urban consumption.

That pessimism has hit consumer stocks with the Nifty FMCG index .NIFTYFMCG declining 13% since Oct. 1, compared with a 7.4% drop in the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI.

Of the FMCG index's 15 constituent firms, only one reported a pickup in sales volume growth in the September quarter.

Consumers in large cities are swapping branded items from hair oil to tea for cheaper unbranded alternatives, reflected in the first sales volume decline in 11 quarters for the foods and refreshment group at Hindustan Unilever.

"We see the growth in big city standing down, although in smaller cities and in rural the growth continues to be good," Hindustan Unilever chief executive Rohit Jawa said last month, after reporting lower than expected earnings.

Consumers are also cutting back on dining out.

Fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC posted same-store sales declines, earnings showed.

While people are still coming, they are choosing cheaper meals, Rajeev Varman, CEO at Burger King operator Restaurant Brands Asia RESR.NS said after posting a 3% drop in quarterly same-store sales.

"We prefer budget-friendly stores that give good deals and discounts to manage our monthly expenditure," said 37-year old Avinash Crasto, a Mumbai marketing and sales executive who has a family of four and identifies as middle class.

($1 = 84.0640 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Shivangi Acharya in New Delhi; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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Updates share levels, adds analyst comments

** Britannia Industries BRIT.NS slides 6% to 5,108.9 rupees, the biggest one-day pct fall since March 8, 2022

** Stock top loser on Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is down 0.92%

** Biscuit maker posts smaller-than-expected Q2 profit, hurt by weaker demand for consumer goods, particularly in urban areas

** Co hurt by steep rise in prices of wheat, palm oil, and cocoa- J.P. Morgan

** Volumes impacted by tepid demand scenario given severe food inflation - Nomura

** Q2 rev up 5% to 46.68 bln rupees ($553 mln), but below market estimates of 47.39 bln rupees - LSEG data

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 5,800 rupees

** Day's drop negated yearly gain, stock now down 5% YTD

($1 = 84.3930 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Britannia Industries BRIT.NS drop 2.4% to 5,610.55 rupees

** Biscuits maker is biggest pct loser on Nifty FMCG index .NIFTYFMCG, which is down 0.2%

** Analysts expect BRIT to post Q2 profit of 6.22 bln rupees ($73.7 mln), a nearly 6% y/y rise - LSEG data

** Analysts see a 7% growth in revenue at 47.39 bln rupees

** PL Capital analysts expect signs of improvement in rural demand while urban demand to be impacted by food inflation, recent floods

** Says competitive intensity across detergents, hair oil, skin products, deodorants, instant noodles, and juices remained intense

** HDFC Securities Research says overall demand remained subdued in Q2 due to higher inflation and above-average rainfall

** Analysts' avg rating on stock is "buy", same as peer Dabur DABU.NS and Marico MRCO.NS

** BRIT up 5.3% YTD vs 5.8% drop in DABU; MRCO up 14% YTD

($1 = 84.3725 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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Oct 9 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• BRITANNIA AND BEL GROUP DEEPEN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

• PARTNERSHIP TO ANNOUNCE LOCAL CHEESE MANUFACTURING IN INDIA

• CHEESE PLANT WITNESSED INVESTMENT OF 2.20 BLN RUPEES FROM JV

• EVERY YEAR, FACTORY WILL PRODUCE ABOUT 10000 TONS OF BRITANNIA LAUGHING COW CHEESE PRODUCTS

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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Aug 15 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• BRITANNIA - GOT TAX ORDER FOR DEMAND OF 9.5 MILLION RUPEES

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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Aug 8 (Reuters) - Indian consumer products' sales slowed sharply to a more-than-one-year low from April to June due to softening demand for personal care products and packaged wheat flour, especially in urban areas, market researcher NielsenIQ said on Thursday.

The overall sales volume growth slowed to 3.8% in the second quarter, compared with growth rates of 6.4% to 8.6% in the past four quarters, "largely due to macroeconomic headwinds," NielsenIQ said, without detailing the factors.

India's retail inflation hovered around 5% in the quarter, mostly due to high food prices, forcing consumers in the world's most populous country to cut back wherever possible to make ends meet.

The sales volume growth in rural areas slowed to 5.2%, from 7.6% in the previous quarter, but fared better than urban markets, where growth slowed even more sharply to 2.8% from 5.7%.

The growth in rural pockets outpaced urban areas for the first time in five quarters in the January-March period as consumer majors including Dove-soapmaker Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS trimmed prices to win back consumers.

In the coming quarters, packaged goods makers including rural-centric Dabur India DABU.NS and Emami EMAM.NS expect a further boost, helped by better monsoon and higher government spending, which usually translate to higher consumer spending.

"The timely arrival of monsoon, coupled with a rural-centric budget with a focus on rural infrastructure, agriculture and employment is a key positive for the sector," Dabur CEO Mohit Malhotra said on an earnings call earlier this month.

The likes of Maggi instant noodles-maker Nestle India NEST.NS and biscuits-manufacturer Britannia Industries BRIT.NS are also betting on rural recovery by making their products available at more stores.

For the June quarter, though, consumer goods makers have posted mixed results.

Urban-centric Nestle India reported its slowest growth in eight years as price increases drove consumers away, while more rural-focussed Hindustan Unilever reported higher earnings as price cuts boosted demand.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• INDIA'S BRITANNIA EXEC: RURAL GROWTH IS STARTING TO COME BACK

• BRITANNIA EXEC: CONTINUING TO GAIN MARKET SHARE, HOPE TREND TO CONTINUE

• BRITANNIA EXEC: RURAL PERFORMANCE BETTER THAN URBAN

• BRITANNIA EXEC: PURELY CONCENTRATING ON DIRECT-TO-CONSUMERS BUSINESS

• BRITANNIA EXEC: SEEING TRENDS OF RISING INPUT COSTS, CLOSELY MONITORING COMMODITY INFLATION

• BRITANNIA EXEC: PRIORITY TO DRIVE TOPLINE GROWTH, MARKET SHARE INCREASE

• BRITANNIA EXEC: WILL AIM TO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN COMMODITY INFLATION AND PRICING ACTIONS

• BRITANNIA EXEC: WORKING ON POSSIBILITY OF CO BEING MORE COMPETITIVE IN TERMS OF PRICING

• BRITANNIA EXEC: MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE PRICE HIKES IN SOME BRANDS AND CATEGORIES IN FY25

• BRITANNIA EXEC: SEE TRENDS OF DOWNTRADING IN SOME OF THE MARKETS, INCLUDING RURAL

Source text for Eikon: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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CHENNAI/BENGALURU, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS reported quarterly earnings below market expectations on Friday as competition from smaller rivals that offer cheaper alternatives mounted.

Britannia, which sells Jim Jam and NutriChoice biscuits, reported a consolidated net profit of 5.06 billion rupees ($60.44 million) for the first quarter ended June 30, compared with 4.58 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 5.36 billion rupees, according to data from LSEG.

($1 = 83.7250 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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June 20 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD - VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT SCHEME OFFERED TO WORKERS AT KOLKATA FACTORY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY ALL PERMANENT WORKERS

• BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD - NO MATERIAL IMPACT ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Source text for Eikon: ID:nNSEfH7Tb

Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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Corrects to "forward" from "toward" in second-last paragraph

By Bharath Rajeswaran

MUMBAI, June 5 (Reuters) - Indian consumer-focussed companies are likely to shine, while capital spending-linked firms could suffer as the government shifts its policy focus to support lower-income segments, fund managers and analysts said on Wednesday, a day after a surprise result in the national elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a third term in government but without a majority of its own, confounding expectations and raising concerns over the pace of reforms and the priority of investment-led growth.

Indeed, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index .BSESCGIP rose 0.15% on Tuesday, the only bright spot in the stock market carnage, which included a 12% plunge in the capital goods index .BSECG.

FMCG stocks continued their rise on Wednesday, climbing 5.2%, while capital goods companies slid 1.5%.

The BJP lacking a simple majority raises doubts over a stable government and policy-making styles, said analysts at CLSA.

The brokerage remained "overweight" on consumer staples and said ITC ITC.NS was its preferred pick in the sector.

CLSA is also positive on banks, IT and insurance companies, and replaced Larsen & Toubro (L&T) LART.NS with HCLTech HCLT.NS in its India focus portfolio.

The blue-chip Nifty 50 .NSEI and Sensex .BSESN indexes tumbled nearly 6% each on Tuesday, their worst one-day performance since March 2020.

Despite the plunge, valuations of cyclicals are expensive, said Nuvama Institutional Equities, preferring consumption-linked stocks over capital expenditure-linked sectors.

It expects weak demand to weigh on private capex and government capex to decelerate.

The Nifty 50 is currently trading at 19 times 1-year forward expected earnings (PE), below the 10-year long-term average of 20x.

Consumer staples like Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS, Britannia Industries BRIT.NS, Colgate COLG.NS are trading at a PE of 52x, 51x and 49x, respectively, lower than their long-term valuations.

Conversely, capital goods companies like L&T and Siemens Ltd SIEM.NS are trading above their long-term valuations.

"Days of paying any multiple for stocks in industries where big reforms are expected are gone," said Ashutosh Tiwari of Equirus Securities, cautioning investors to focus on sectors "where earnings visibility is more certain."

Equirus identified rural recovery as a theme that could benefit in the near term and picked building materials, consumer durables, automobiles and industrial consumables as its preferred sectors.

"The election result is likely to lead to a more balanced market; risk-reward in large caps and underperforming sectors like banking and consumer appears more favourable," said Rahul Singh, chief investment officer of equities at Mumbai-based Tata Asset Management.

"More specifically any moderation in the capital spending outlook in favour of consumption support can further drive sectoral preferences going forward," Singh said.

The change in market sentiment, he added, may lead to "greater scrutiny and valuation discipline" in sectors like capital goods, power, defence and manufacturing.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Mumbai; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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Adds missing word in headline and paragraph 6 of May 30 story

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, May 30 (Reuters) - Hopes of a normal monsoon and a likely thrust from India's next government to address the stress in the bottom of the market are likely to spur consumption-linked themes for the rest of 2024, a fund manager at Ambit Asset Management said.

"Irrespective of whichever government comes to power after election results on June 4, we are already seeing a trend that is favourable for rural-facing companies or those catering to the bottom end of the market," Siddharth Bothra, fund manager at the flagship Ambit Coffee Can Fund, said on Wednesday.

"They are ripe for revival."

A widening wealth gap has led to a "K-shaped" recovery in India's consumption, with the premium and urban side of the market benefitting from demand for discretionary products like jewellery, while the bottom end of the market has lagged, Bothra says.

"The new government's likely focus is to take measures to address the stress in the rural and bottom of the market."

Ambit Asset Management manages assets worth over 27 billion rupees (about $324 million).

Moreover, the monsoon rains arriving a few days earlier than expected have also boosted the prospects of bumper harvests that could accelerate rural demand and consumption recovery.

Bothra expects telecom companies, two-wheeler makers and sellers of consumer staples to benefit the most.

"If those at the bottom end of the pyramid upgrade from using feature phones and 2G-phones to 3G-, 4G- and 5G-phones and their data usage rises, it will benefit telecom companies," said Bothra.

"The two-wheeler sales are still lesser than what it was in 2019. You have so many great quality companies which have solid fundamentals; they will greatly gain from consumption recovery."

Companies selling premium products such as cars, high-end electronics and jewellery have outperformed the market but fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms like Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS and Dabur DABUR.NS have trailed in comparison.

A pick-up in rural consumption could turn that around, said Bothra.

($1 = 83.2690 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Mumbai; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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BENGALURU, May 7 (Reuters) - Indian fast-moving consumer goods' sales rose in January-March, with rural growth outpacing that in urban areas for the first time in five quarters, market researcher NielsenIQ said on Tuesday.

Consumer goods-makers in the world's fifth-largest economy have been struggling with sluggish demand, especially in the hinterlands, as higher prices of essentials including milk and tomatoes have forced people to cut back spending on non-essentials.

Sales volumes for fast-moving consumer goods rose 6.5% in the March quarter from a year earlier, NielsenIQ said, quickening from a 6% growth in the previous quarter.

Sales rose 7.6% in rural India, boosted by the personal and home care categories, against a 5.8% growth in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, urban sales growth slowed to 5.7% from 6.9% in the previous quarter, as consumer goods makers struggled with rising competition.

Sales in the non-food segment rose at double the pace compared with the food segment, NielsenIQ said.

Consumer goods majors including Nestle India NEST.NS and Dabur DABU.NS have posted strong results for the March quarter as demand for products such as biscuits buoyed their bottom-lines.

Indian consumer giant Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS said a rural recovery has started while Marico MRCO.NS said a demand recovery is underway even as the companies missed fourth-quarter profit estimates.

"Post-election, post-monsoon, we would be aiming towards a double-digit volume growth for sure. I think the first quarter is flattish," Varun Berry, managing director of Britannia BRIT.NS said in a post-earnings call.

The consumer goods maker expects the demand environment to be "slightly inflationary" after the national elections which end in early June.

India anticipates an above-normal monsoon in June, which could aid rural income.

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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** Shares of Good Day and Little Hearts biscuits maker Britannia Industries BRIT.NS up as much as 7.4% to 5,093.20 rupees; last up 6.3%

** Stock posts biggest intraday pct gain since Nov. 7, 2022

** Gross margin of 44.9%, up 100 bps year-on-year, and Q4 numbers "surprised us positively," say Investec analysts; margin expansion driven by softness in commodity prices and cost saving initiatives

** BRIT on Friday reported fourth-qtr profit slightly above estimates helped by resilient demand from urban consumers

** Investec adds BRIT continued to see market share gains helped by strategic pricing actions; reiterates "buy" rating

** Nomura notes 3% price cuts in quarter led to lower-than-expected sales growth

** Average rating for the stock among 36 analysts is "buy"; median price target 5,243 rupees - LSEG data

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru)

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May 3 (Reuters) - Britannia Industries Ltd BRIT.NS:

• Q4 CONSOL NET PROFIT 5.38 BILLION RUPEES; LSEG IBES PROFIT EST. 5.37 BILLION RUPEES

• Q4 CONSOL TOTAL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 40.69 BILLION RUPEES

• FINAL DIVIDEND OF 73.5 RUPEESPER SHARE

• YR AGO Q4 CONSOL NET PROFIT 5.59 RUPEES, TOTAL REV 40.23 RUPEES

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Further company coverage: BRIT.NS

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