Consumer product companies across sectors are expected to report improvement in revenues in the March quarter, analysts said. FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) players witnessed improvement in volume growth in the March quarter in the domestic markets as rural demand remained resilient. Though impact of the West Asia conflict has begun leading to heightened raw material cost pressures.
Many QSR (Quick-Service Restaurant) players are also expected to post sequential improvement in the December quarter while commercial LPG shortage remains a near-term overhang. Recent company updates from apparel retailers such as Trent and V-Mart also indicated better revenue growth in Q4 FY26.
Volume Growth
Home-grown FMCG players such as Dabur India and Marico recently said in their respective quarterly updates that they witnessed high-single digit underlying volume growth in India business. Noting that there was sequential recovery in demand in India business, Dabur also pointed out that the strong domestic performance offset challenges emerging due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia. AWL Agri Business said it recorded a double-digit growth in volumes in the December quarter.
A report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services noted that demand recovery was visible across categories in the March quarter. It added that FMCG and staple companies are expected to report improvement in year-on-year revenue growth for India business. “The ongoing geopolitical tension has impacted most staple companies on the international business front. We expect the food category to continue outperforming BPC (beauty and personal care). Rural demand is expected to remain resilient, while urban demand has also shown an improving trajectory during the quarter,” the report added.
“Thus Q4 is likely to have minimal impact of the geopolitical tensions on revenue and margins. Going forward, we expect the inflationary pressure to increase, and this may result in lower spending,” the Motilal Oswal report stated.
Operations Growth
Many FMCG companies, which took a marginal price hike in March, are expected to take more price hikes in April to mitigate the impact of steep raw material inflation due to West Asia conflict, it added.
In the quick-service restaurant segment too, several players are expected to report better same sales store growth marking a sequential improvement, analysts said.“ However, LPG supply disruption poses near-term operational risk, though most players have managed continuity well via PNG and electric (ovens and induction cooking) store mix and buffer stocking,” a report by Elara Capital noted.
Meanwhile, apparel retailers such as Trent and V-Mart Retail have also indicated better revenue growth. In a BSE filing on Monday, Trent Ltd said that standalone revenue from operations grew by 20 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, V-Mart Retail Ltd in a filing last week said, total revenue from operations grew 24 per cent and same store sales growth was up 12 per cent in the December quarter