Maggi row impact: At Rs 64 cr, Nestle India clocks its first quarterly loss in 15 years

Mumbai - Nestle India Ltd slipped to a second-quarter loss as sales plunged after its hugely popular Maggi noodles were pulled off shelves over safety concerns. The unit of Swiss food giant Nestle SA said on Wednesday the quarter was “extremely challenging”, as it reported a net loss of Rs 64.4 crore, compared with a profit of Rs 288 crore rupees a year earlier. This was its first quarterly loss in 15 years. “Net sales for the quarter have decreased by 20.1 per cent largely due to the impact of the Maggi noodles issue. Net domestic sales decreased by 20.6 per cent,” Nestle India said. [caption id=“attachment_2370952” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] The company also reported one-off costs of Rs 452 crore in the quarter, which “relates to estimates of loss on account of stocks withdrawn including incidental costs thereto and other related costs incurred”. Its total income from operations during the period under review declined 19.52 per cent to Rs 1,957.01 crore as against Rs 2,431.97 crore in the same period of previous year. The company follows January-December financial year. “This quarter has been extremely challenging for the company. Nestl India would like to reassure consumers that our products are safe. Consumer trust is and will always remain the cornerstone of Nestle. Nestle India is making all efforts and will continue to engage with authorities to bring Maggi Noodles back on the shelves,” Nestle Managing Director (Designate) Suresh Narayanan said in the statement. “The Maggi issue disrupted business. In addition to loss of sales from the business disruption, net sales worth Rs 288.4 crore has been reversed during the quarter in relation to Maggi noodle stocks already sold and withdrawn from the market,” the company said. Nestle has been at the centre of India’s worst food scare in a decade after local regulators reported that some packets of the company’s Maggi instant noodles – one of India’s most popular snacks – contained dangerous levels of lead. Etienne Benet stepped down as the company’s managing director last week, days after India’s food safety regulator banned Maggi noodles, calling them “unsafe and hazardous for human consumption”. The noodles sell at roughly a dozen rupees ($0.20) per packet, and Maggi has long been market leader in India, even though its sales represent only 0.005 percent of Nestle’s global revenue of about 92 billion Swiss francs ($96 billion). Nestle has maintained Maggi is safe, and appealed against the ban in court. But it has to continue with a nationwide recall of some 27,400 tonnes of the noodles until a verdict is reached. Shares of Nestle India, which has a market value of about $9 billion, have slumped 12 percent since mid-May, when reports of the excess lead surfaced. On Wednesday, Nestle India’s shares closed down 0.6 percent at 6,152 rupees in Mumbai. Agencies