Dabur's Net Profit Up Marginally In Q2 The company's net profit stood at INR 441.06 crore during the period under review compared with INR 438.30 crore in the year-ago period

In the face of increasing inflationary headwinds, Dabur India Ltd on Thursday reported a marginal increase of 0.7 per cent in its net profit in the quarter ended June 30, 2022. The company's net profit stood at INR 441.06 crore during the period under review compared with INR 438.30 crore in the year-ago period.

The company reported an 8.1 per cent growth in consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2022-23 with an underlying volume growth of 5 per cent in the India FMCG business.

The consolidated revenue stood at INR 2,822 crore in the first quarter of 2022-23 up from
INR 2,612 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The company mitigated the impact of unprecedented inflationary pressures and supply chain constraints through disciplined cost control and judicious price hikes across categories.

"Our brands continued to grow significantly ahead of the market, gaining market shares across all key categories. Despite the macro-economic headwinds, we remained focused on rolling our consumer-centric innovation that expanded our total addressable market and reported strong, sustainable, profitable growth. The demand environment remained stressed in view of the heavy inflation, which saw consumers switch to more affordable smaller packs of branded consumer goods," said Mohit Malhotra, chief executive officer, Dabur India.

Rural demand for Dabur was driven by the ahead-of-the-curve investments in expanding its rural footprint to over 91,500 villages in Q1, up from 89,800 villages in March 2022. Over the past one year, the company has significantly grown its rural network from 60,000 villages in March 2021 to around 91,500 villages now.

"We are also expanding our product basket in the rural market by way of newer LUP (low unit price) or affordable packs across categories to feed these markets and push demand growth. We have invested in consumer activities in rural India to reach out to consumers in the hinterland, giving them an opportunity to touch, feel and experience our products," Malhotra informed BIZ Experiences India in his earlier interview.

Urban growth, at the same time, was driven by new-age channels like modern trade, which grew by 42 per cent during the quarter.

Innovation continues to be the cornerstone of Dabur's strategy with new launches contributing to 4.4 per cent of sales.

Dabur's foods & beverages business reported a strong growth, led by 51 per cent jump in the beverages business. The foods business also reported 36 per cent growth during the quarter. The home care business was up 52 per cent, while the skin and salon business reported a 11.4 per cent rise during the quarter. The oral care business, riding on strong performance of its toothpaste brands, ended the quarter with a 12.5 per cent growth. Sustained demand for Hajmola and PudinHara helped the digestives business end the quarter up 31 per cent.

Despite the consumption slowdown and shrinkage in overall demand, Dabur reported market share gains across 98 per cent of its portfolio.