Stating that it is witnessing rural demand recovery trends, Dabur India on Thursday said it expects factors such as normal monsoon, continued government spending and lower inflationary trends to support gradual uptick in overall consumption trends during this fiscal. The FMCG major is also aiming to garner mid to high-single digit volume growth on the back of continued expansion in rural footprint and new launches.

The company’s domestic FMCG business recorded a volume growth of 5.5 per cent in FY24.

Speaking on an investor call, Mohit Malhotra, CEO, Dabur India said,” Our business has grown 8 per cent in rural markets and 4 per cent in urban areas in Q4. Even syndicated industry data indicates that after three years, rural has grown ahead of urban. While urban growth remains the same or has come down a little bit, rural growth has been picking up in the past 2-3 months sequentially. We hope this is recovery is more structural in nature and not just one-off.”

“ We remain optimistic about a gradual uptick in the overall consumption trends over the course of this fiscal year considering projections of normal monsoon, continued government spending and lower inflation,” he added.

Dabur India posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 350 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, up 16.2 per cent from Rs 301 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. Consolidated revenue stood at Rs 2815 crore up 5.1 per cent in the quarter under review. The company’s board recommended a final dividend of 275 per cent aggregating to Rs. 487.31 Crore, the company said.

In his remarks on an investor call, Malhotra said that the company is aiming at “mid to high single digit volume growth” in FY25, which will be coupled with on an average about 3 per cent price increase. He added that this price increase will be fairly limited and done in some parts of the portfolio.

Talking about the company’s broader strategy to transition its power brands into power platforms, Malhotra pointed out that the company has been focusing on various brand extensions across the portfolio. “ We have extended brand Gulabari into body wash segment. Honey is getting extended into the breakfast cereals space, while Chywanprash is being extended to powder and gummies format.,” he added. Dabur India will also foray in the talc segment this summer season under the brand Dabur Cool King.

For the full year of FY 24, the FMCG major posted consolidated net profit of Rs 1,843 crore up 7.9 per cent compared to the previous fiscal. Consolidated revenue stood at Rs 12,404 crore up 7.6 per cent over previous fiscal year. “Our rural coverage during the year expanded by 22,000 villages to 122,000 villages. Dabur’s rural distribution has been the highest in the industry, giving us a distinct advantage and helping us drive rural growth,” Malhotra added.

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