Lotte Growth

In FY21, the total revenue of the company stood at Rs. 377 Cr., which represents a de-growth of 3% from FY20. The reason for the fall is the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions. Meanwhile, in FY21, due to home seclusion, the company has witnessed small changes in their sales channel, with an inclination towards e-commerce sales as the company's products are listed on major grocery e-commerce sites, and is expected to increase their contribution in the coming years, whilst independent small grocers remain the dominant channel for distribution. In FY21, the company has made efforts to provide fewer discounts and schemes, which were Rs. 35 Cr. in FY20 to Rs. 31 Cr. in FY21. Other operations, on the other hand, increased by 152% in FY21 over FY20, owing primarily to a net gain on foreign currency transactions and translation exchange differences.

Despite all, the company is not consistent with their earnings power. 

Net profits of the company in FY21 have increased substantially from FY20 despite generating lower revenue in FY21. Prudent cost management initiatives undertaken by the company are the primary reason for such growth. In FY21, the prices of vanaspati, skimmed milk powder, and chocomass have gone up significantly. However, the company was able to adopt cost reduction measures such as product mix change, additional cost restructuring and cost-saving initiatives to negate the impact of COVID-19, which could be realised with 19% reduction in the overall expenses in FY21 from FY20. Overall the company has not been consistent with profits and only reported profits in FY19 and FY21, during the company under review period. 

There were no changes made in the equity structure of the company, which resulted in the growth of EPS directly correlated to the growth in the net profits of the company in FY21 from FY20. 

There were no changes to the company's equity structure during the previous fiscal years, and changes in book value are directly related to changes in total equity. Overall book value per share of the company has been witnessing a negative trajectory with a fall year-on-year due to accumulated profit and loss over the years. Retained earnings became negative from January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, which then added losses to the retained earnings and thereafter for all the financial years except 2019 and 2021, the company reported losses. Profits in FY19 and FY21 were not significant enough for positive retained earnings. On an individual basis, the overall equity of the company has increased with profits, but the overall book value per share fell in FY21.

EBITDA of the company has reported a growth of 88% in FY21 from FY20 despite a fall in the overall revenue. The company has been able to mitigate expenses despite facing challenging conditions along with increase in the price of raw materials. Despite such factors, expense per unit of operating revenue has decreased by 15% in FY21 from FY20, which is also reflected in the higher EBITDA margin growth of 97% in FY21 from FY20. Cost of the good sold has decreased by 4%, owing to product mix strategy and 24% reduction in the operating expenses. EBITDA has remained positive through out the years and grew substantially year-on-year for the financial years when the company generated positive profits. 

EBIT of the company has witnessed substantial growth in FY21 from FY20 in lieu of lower EBITDA in FY20, amounting to Rs. 33 Cr., and with further depreciation, a negative Rs. 9 Cr. was reported as EBIT. With higher EBITDA in FY21, the depreciation amount, which has remained at a stable level in FY21 from FY20, has transpired into a positive EBIT in FY21. Similarly, the same phenomenon is applied to FY19, when depreciation remained at a stable level from FY18, but due to higher EBITDA, EBIT turned positive. 

Total assets of the company have been witnessing a negative trend. Fixed assets are positively correlated (0.98) with total assets, which indicates a decrease in fixed assets will have a significant impact on total assets, and with such a decrease in fixed assets year-on-year (y-o-y), total assets of the company declined y-o-y. The decline in assets is due to the fact that the company has already established fixed assets with little to no addition in assets, and with further depreciation, the company's fixed assets fell and subsequently total assets. 

Cash flow from operations increased by 16% in FY21 compared to FY20. The primary reason for such growth is the increase in positive profits generated in FY21. Along with that, changes in the working capital, especially a decrease in the current assets, gave further impetus to the cash flow, among which the decrease in inventories has contributed the most to improving cash flow from operations. Overall in FY21, there has been a decrease in the current liabilities, which earlier in FY20, gave impetus to cash flow from operations.