India's top tea producer Tata Tea Ltd. will consider a proposal to sell or lease 17 of its tea estates to a company backed by employees, the company said on Friday. Tata Tea, part of India's powerful Tata group, will also consider either selling or leasing some of its tea plantations and one coffee estate in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it told the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Tata Tea's shares rose 3.6 percent to 546.50 rupees in a stronger Bombay market.
The firm, owner of the Tetley tea brand, has a presence in 35 countries and the world's second-largest branded tea portfolio.
It owns 51 tea estates and one coffee and cardamom estate in India, and produces around 60 million kgs of black tea and 2 million kgs of instant tea annually.
The firm, whose brands also include Agni, Kanan Devan, Chakra Gold and Gemini, reported last month a 76 percent rise in third quarter net profit to 274.4 million rupees on an 18 percent increase in operating income to 2.4 billion.
Analysts expect tea prices in India to rise nearly 10 percent over the next 12 months, helped by an increase of more than 2 percent in domestic consumption and strong exports.
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