Marico Q1 Results: Net profit rises 8% to Rs 513 crore; revenue surges 23%, margins slip

"The India business continued to post sequential improvement in underlying volume growth, driven by positive trends in the core franchises and accelerated scale up of new businesses." the company said.

Despite robuts sales, gross margin contracted by ~530 bps YoY as sharp inflation in key commodities continued to exert pressure, in addition to a particularly high base and the pricing-led denominator effect, Marico said

Marico’s share price was trading 0.53 percent higher at Rs 714.15 on the BSE after the earnings announcement.

Q1 performance 

Flagship brand Parachute witnessed a 1 per cent volume decline as copra prices rose 18% on a sequential basis and 107% on a year-on-year basis. The brand has continued to demonstrate resilience and pricing inelasticity, Marico said, adding that it  posted robust 31% growth in revenues.

We expect Parachute to remain steady and reinforce its competitive edge while market conditions settle during the course of this year, the FMCG company said.

Meanwhile, its  value-added hair oils portfolio gained ~140 bps in value market share on a MAT basis. Saffola Edible Oils posted mid-single digit volume growth amidst a relatively elevated pricing environment. The brand registered 28% revenue growth, while also proactively passing on the benefit of the recent import duty reduction on vegetable oils to consumers, Marico said.

In the International business, Bangladesh posted 17% CCG, Vietnam had a muted quarter, but is expected to witness gradual recovery in the coming quarters.

MENA continued its robust growth momentum and delivered 42% CCG, with both the Gulf region and Egypt recording strong growth. outh Africa recorded flattish growth in CCG terms, while the growth aspiration for the year remains intact. NCD and Exports recorded 37% growth.

Outlook  

Marico expects  a gradual uptick in overall demand patterns in the quarters ahead, aided by a combination of easing inflation levels, favorable monsoon season and continued policy support. It expects to deliver double-digit revenue growth in the medium term and market share gains in the India core portfolios, accelerated growth in the Foods and Premium Personal Care and double-digit constant currency growth in the International business.

It sees margin headwinds from input cost inflation to peak out in the first half of this fiscal and ease gradually thereafter.

"We also expect operating margin to inch up over the medium term, with leverage benefits as well as premiumisation of the portfolios across both the India and
International businesses," the company said.

The maker of Parachute hair oil,  expects to deliver consistent and competitive growth in the medium term by executing a more focused and channel-specific portfolio and SKU strategy. The company is bettibg high on Foods and Premium Personal Care portfolios, with aim to grow the foods business at more than 25 per cent CAGR to ~8x of FY20 revenues in FY27.

" We expect to unlock substantial growth levers in the digital-first franchises over the medium term through TAM expansion and driving brand penetration. Consequently, we expect the India revenue share of the Foods and Premium Personal Care portfolios to expand to ~25% by FY27," Marico said.

Among Digital-first brands, Beardo is likely to cross double-digit EBITDA margin this year, while Plix is delivering single-digit EBITDA margin. "We aim to maintain the pace of scale up and achieve double-digit EBITDA margin in this portfolio in FY27," the company added.

Marico said it will  continue to scout for inorganic growth opportunities to consolidate  competitive position in existing categories, expand the total addressable market in existing geographies or access markets of interest, thereby adding visible levers to drive long term value creation.