 "Dabur Q3 results: Net profit rises 8% to Rs 514 cr on rural biz growth")
Indian FMCG major Dabur on Wednesday reported an 8 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 514.2 crore for the December quarter of FY24 on the back of an uptick in its rural business. It had reported a net profit of Rs 475.9 crore during the same period last year.
Bloomberg analysts, on average, had expected the company to report a net profit of Rs 516.2 crore. The rural business of the company outpaced its urban transactions in the last quarter due to a growing distribution system in the rural areas.
“Moderating inflation coupled with buoyant consumer sentiments and our focussed investment in distribution footprint expansion in rural India helped demand from the hinterland bounce back for Dabur. Rural demand for Dabur grew 200 bps ahead of urban,” Mohit Malhotra, chief executive officer, Dabur India, said in the earnings release.
"We have been investing in growing our rural footprint, which has expanded by 17,000 villages in the current financial year from 100,000 to 117,000. We are working towards ending this year with a rural coverage of 1.2 lakh villages," he added.
Despite the delay in winter slightly impacting the healthcare and winter portfolio, the homegrown FMCG company recorded an organic volume growth of 4 per cent. Meanwhile, its volume growth, including Badshah masala, came at 6 per cent.
The company’s net sales rose 7 per cent at Rs 3,255.06 crore from Rs 3,043.17 crore in the same period last year. “This was driven by steady performance of both the home and personal care and foods and beverages business,” the company stated in a release.
Its Pbidt (profit before interest, depreciation, and tax) rose 11.9 per cent to 794.8 crore from the year-ago period. Ad spending in the quarter marked a 36 per cent growth in the consolidated business.
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Dabur's digestives business ended the quarter with an over 15 per cent growth, while the ayurvedic ethicals business grew by nearly 7 per cent. Its toothpaste business ended the quarter with an over 8 per cent jump, backed by toothpaste volume growth of 5 per cent.
Dabur India’s international business reported a growth of 11.7 per cent in Constant Currency terms.