Shares of Britannia Industries fell by over 6 per cent to ₹5,754 apiece in Tuesday’s trading session after MD & CEO Varun Berry announced his resignation.
Britannia share price has remained volatile in the near term. The FMCG stock has fallen by over 5% in the last five trading sessions; however, it has gained 4% over the past six months.
Britannia MD & CEO Varun Berry resigns
Britannia’s MD and CEO, Varun Berry, announced his decision to step down before the end of his term in 2029, on Monday. The board has accepted his resignation with immediate effect, waiving the notice period.
The company named Rakshit Hargave as its new CEO, effective December 15. Hargave, who resigned from Grasim’s Birla Opus over the weekend, will also assume the role of Managing Director on the same date.
In the interim, N Venkataraman, Britannia’s current CFO, will serve as CEO until Hargave officially takes over next month.
During Berry’s tenure, Britannia’s revenue increased 2.5 times, margins expanded by over 900 basis points, net profit rose sixfold, and the company’s market capitalisation grew 18 times to ₹1.47 lakh crore as of Monday’s close.
“When Mr. Berry took over the baton of BRIT in 2013, the mandate was to put the company on a growth trajectory. Under his leadership, BRIT focused on five strategic planks: distribution, marketing, innovation, cost efficiencies and developing adjacent businesses. BRIT’s profitability improved drastically. EBITDA margins jumped from 6.8% in FY13 to 17.8% in FY25, reaching a peak of 19.1% in FY21. PAT margins surged from 4.2% in FY13 to 12.3% in FY25 (peak of 14.1% in FY21),” said brokerage firm Motilal Oswal in a report.
The brokerage firm further added that in the near term, there can be pressure on Britannia’s stock considering Mr Berry’s long and successful stint and his quick exit (without notice period) despite the time gap before the new CEO joins.
“With this change, the focus on the new CEO and his strategic layout will be crucial, but growth recovery will be a key monitorable in the near term. The interesting part is that overall consumption macros are improving, and we hope Mr Hargave can bring in fresh energy to BRIT,” the brokerage said.
MOSL had recently upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from a ‘neutral’ stance, with a target price of ₹1740.
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