Dabur India’s consolidated net profit fell 5.4 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 476 crore in the September-December period. This compares to a net profit of Rs 504.35 crore declared a year earlier, according to the company’s regulatory filing.
The company’s sales increased significantly by 3.4 per cent to Rs 3,043.2 crore, the weakest rise since the April-June quarter of 2020. In the previous year, it was Rs 2,941.75 crore.
According to the business’s statement, the company is facing significant obstacles in rural areas owing to inflationary pressures.
“The impact of inflationary pressures was more pronounced in the rural markets as marked downtrading and shift to more affordable and smaller packs led to rural growth lagging urban markets for the second quarter in a row for Dabur,” Dabur CEO Mohit Malhotra said in a statement.
“However, we believe that this demand slump in rural areas has bottomed out as we are now seeing some green shoots of revival in the hinterland,” he added.
Dabur’s homecare business increased by 18 per cent year on year. In Q3, the Ayurvedic OTC business increased by 17 per cent, while the digestives category increased by 12 per cent. The food and drinks business grew by 6.4 per cent during the quarter, while the toothpaste business grew by 32 per cent, driven principally by consistent demand for the signature Dabur Red paste.
It also stated that rural demand will expand as a result of record farm output and greater government expenditure. The corporation hopes that lowering inflation and buoyancy in new-age channels such as contemporary trade and e-commerce would fuel some of the urban expansion.
According to the corporation, input cost pressure caused consolidated operating profit to fall about 3 per cent YoY to Rs 610 crore, and operating margin to contract by 130 basis points to 20 per cent.
Price rises combined with cost reductions moderated the inflation in raw costs and unfavourable product mix, limiting the drop in profitability.
In terms of worldwide business figures, Dabur’s Turkey business increased by 97 per cent, while its Egypt business increased by 35 per cent. The Sub-Saharan Africa market increased by 17 per cent, while the SAARC market increased by 8 per cent.
