One of the oldest biscuit-makers Parle Biscuits Private Ltd has reported a 7 per cent revenue growth at ₹8,487 crore during the financial year 2017-18 against ₹7,922 crore the previous fiscal, as per the company’s latest financial filings with the Registrar of Companies.

However, the growth was lower than in 2016-17, when the company recorded a 10 per cent growth in revenues over the previous year, according to data sourced from business intelligence platform Tofler.

The slight slump in revenues could be attributed to the high GST of 18 per cent on biscuit manufacturers.

The impact was more for companies like Parle that manufacture low-price biscuits at a very slim margin. Thus, the manufacturers increased prices, leading to dip in demand. The companies were expecting the GST rate to set at 12 per cent for premium biscuits and 5 per cent for the lower-price varieties.

Yet, Parle reported a 21 per cent jump in the net profit at ₹356 crore in 2017-18, even though the company’s total expenses rose marginally to ₹7,962 crore.

Parle competes with players such as Britannia, ITC and UNIBIC in the $7.22-billion biscuit market in India which is expected to reach $12 billion by 2024, growing at 9.3 per cent CAGR.

Parle, which also has started making other savouries, dominates the low-end biscuit market, but Britannia is the largest player by revenues and largely sells premium biscuits like Treat and cookies like Good Day.

Though the government has not revised the GST rates for biscuits, this has not deterred the companies from launching new products.

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