posted a consolidated net profit of ₹362 crore in the March quarter, up 16 per cent from ₹312.7 crore in the year-ago period. Consolidated revenue for the quarter grew 7.3 per cent to ₹3,038 crore. The India FMCG business posted a growth of 9.5 per cent.
On the investor call, Mohit Malhotra, Global CEO, Dabur India, said, “Demand conditions in India remain steady, reflecting consumption resilience, backed by fiscal measures of direct and indirect tax rationalisation. Rural markets continue to outperform urban markets, although the gap between urban and rural has narrowed. Geopolitical headwinds in West Asia are impacting input costs and supply chain across businesses, including India.”
The company said that it focused on opening alternative supply routes to key geographies such as West Asia, disciplined cost controls, and calibrated price increases.
“We are confident of sequential acceleration of growth in India business driven by stable consumption trends, GTM transformation exercise, focus on premiumisation and investments in brand building,” Malhotra noted. He added that the sequential acceleration is aided by volume growth as well as price increases.
On inflationary pressures, Malhotra said, “With the war in the West Asia, we are seeing a cascading impact happening across all countries and geographies. And therefore, the inflation has really picked up. We have already announced a 4 per cent price increase across different parts of the business to mitigate that inflationary impact. We may also need to take a second round of price increase, depending on the geopolitical situation.
On future growth projections, he noted, “ So I think the sequential growth will accelerate, aided by volume growth as well as value growth due to price increase. Also, there’s some benefit of GST that we will be seeing in the first quarter, especially for the low unit price points.”
On the international business, Malhotra noted that the West Asia region contributes 30-35 per cent to the company’s overall international business. He noted that the company has been navigating challenges of supply chain disruptions, inflation, and lower demand in the West Asia region.
The company added that in the urban region, e-commerce and Modern Trade have been driving demand, growing by 49 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Quick Commerce is driving the online business, posting a growth of 54 per cent.
The company’s board has proposed a final dividend of ₹5.50 per share. aggregating to ₹975.50 crore