Dabur Q1 profit grows 3.5%; revenue rises 11%

Dabur India, one of the country’s leading Indian consumer goods companies, has posted a 3.5% growth in consolidated net profit at ₹456.61 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2023, as compared to ₹441.06 crore in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, the consolidated profit increased significantly by 56% from ₹292.76 crore in the previous quarter, the FMCG major says in a BSE filing today.

The consolidated revenue from operations grew by 10.9% to ₹3,130.47 crore in Q1 FY24 as against ₹2,822.43 crore in the corresponding period last year. On quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), the sales climbed 16.9% from ₹2,677.80 crore in March quarter of FY23.

As per the exchange filing, Dabur’s consolidated revenue crossed the ₹3,000 crore mark for the first time in the first quarter, driven by strong double-digit growth in both home and personal care (HPC), and health care (HC) businesses. “The Q1 revenue growth stands at 13.3% on a constant currency basis,” it says.

"We remain committed to our strategy of superior go-to-market execution by enhancing our distribution footprint while focusing on driving growth for our Power Brands and building an agile organization culture in our pursuit of sustainable, balanced growth and value creation. We have initiated several measures to pursue greater efficiency and the gains were ploughed back in the form of higher investments behind our brands to drive demand,” says Mohit Malhotra, CEO, Dabur India.

During the quarter under review, the company’s media spending grew by 30% in the consolidated business and by 28% in the India business, Malhotra adds.

The revenue from India business grew by 8% to ₹2,347 crore, while international business reported a 20.6% growth in CC terms and 10.2% in rupee terms. “The Turkey business reported a 51.2% growth, while the Egypt business grew by 45.7%, Sub-Saharan Africa by 13% and MENA by 10.2%,” the company says in the regulatory filing.

Dabur's operating profit saw a growth of 11.2% to ₹604.7 crore versus ₹543.6 crore in the same period last year. The EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) rose 10.9% to 714.5 crore as compared to 644.2 crore in Q1FY23, while margin stood at 19.3% as compared to the year ago period.

Malhotra further states the company continues to see strong consumer engagement and reported market share gain across 90% of the portfolio. In the hair oils category, Dabur gained 200 basis points (bps) to end the quarter at its highest-ever share of 17.4%, while Red Paste gained 50 bps market share, taking the overall toothpaste market share to 16.9%. Odomos expands by 340 bps, taking its share of the mosquito repellent category to 58.9%, while the market share of Chyawanprash reported a 320 bps gain during Q1FY24.

“With the inflation softening, we have seen our rural growths bounce back to high single digits after three quarters. While rural growth continues to lag urban demand, the gap has reduced significantly. We continue to strengthen our long-term competitiveness through investments in developing consumer-centric innovations and technology, as we deliver on our purpose of health and well-being for every household," he adds.

Dabur has also made rapid strides on the ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) front and has targeted to achieve ‘Net Zero’ in its entire value chain by 2045, Malhotra says.

In 2022-23, Dabur emerged as the first Indian FMCG company to become plastic waste positive, having collected, processed and recycled 35,000 MT of post-consumer plastic waste from all over India. Today, Dabur collects, processes and recycles more plastic waste than it sells in its product packaging in a year, the company says in the release.

Post Q1 results, Dabur India shares ended at ₹554.70, down 1.94% on the BSE. The FMCG heavyweight opened lower at ₹558.90 against the previous closing level of ₹565.65 and touched intraday low of ₹545.65 during the session. The market capitalisation stood at ₹98,294.76 crore at the end of today’s trade.