Marico Net Profit Up 14% In Jan Quarter; Revenue Up 34% On Low Base

Consumer goods company Marico on Friday reported a 14.07 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 227 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q4), aided by a low base and all-round recovery in product segments.

Revenue grew 34.5 per cent to Rs 2,012 crore in the quarter under review versus Rs 1,496 crore reported last year. This was aided by str­ong year-on-year (YoY) sales and underlying volume growth of 37 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, in the domestic business.

Marico’s domestic consumer business contributes nearly 77 per cent to overall top line. While its international business contributes 23 per cent to turnover. In Q4, the international business grew 23 per cent YoY on a constant currency basis.

Marico said gross margins were down 517 bps in Q4 versus a year ago owing to input cost pressures, as pricing interventions in the core product portfolios were not commensurate to commodity in­fla­­tion. The firms’s earnings before interest tax depreciation and am­­ortisation (Ebit­da) incre­ased by 13.1 per cent to Rs 319 crore from Rs 282 crore a year ago, while Ebitda margins dec­lined by 300 bps to 15.9 per cent from 18.9 per cent last year.

Parachute Rigids, which contributes 38 per cent to Marico’s domestic business, grew 29 per cent in terms of sales volumes, albeit on a low base, undeterred by price hikes and a pullback of consumer offers to counter input cost pressures. Value added hair oils, which contributes 22 per cent to the domestic business, grew 22 per cent in volumes with all key brands including Nihar Shanti Amla, Para­chute Advansed and Nihar Naturals hair oils clocking double-digit growth in Q4, Marico said.

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