Dabur Q3 PAT seen up 14% at Rs 175 cr

Dabur India is expected to report a profit after tax of Rs 175 crore in the October-December quarter of FY12, a growth of 13.6% as compared to Rs 154.1 crore in a year ago quarter.

Sales are seen going up by 27.8% to Rs 1,380 crore from Rs 1,080 crore year-on-year.                 

EBITDA is likely to go up by 17.7% to Rs 246 crore from Rs 209.1 crore during the same period.

Operating profit margin is expected to be falling at 17.8% in the quarter ended December FY12 versus 19.3% in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Expectations

* Margin contraction mainly due to raw material cost pressures

* Rupee depreciation has aggravated the pain; direct import of around Rs 400 crore worth of raw materials

* Advertisement spend was 9.6% of sales in H1; but likely to move up considerably due to new launches  

* Topline growth led by consolidation with recent acquisitions: Namaste Group, Hobi  

* Of this domestic growth expected at 14-15%; 7-8% volume growth + price hikes

* International biz volume growth seen at 15%

* Watch out for: Forex losses on debt exposure & higher interest costs due to acquisitions and tax rate