Marico March quarter profit rises 5% to Rs 320 crore

Marico Q4 earnings: Marico Ltd, the homegrown FMCG major, has announced a 4.9 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 320 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2024. The company's robust performance comes amid challenging market conditions.

In a regulatory filing, Marico disclosed that its consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter stood at Rs 2,278 crore, showing a marginal increase from Rs 2,240 crore in the corresponding period last year. Despite this, total expenses for the quarter decreased to Rs 1,894 crore compared to Rs 1,907 crore in the previous year.

During Q4FY24, Marico's domestic business witnessed an underlying volume growth of 3 per cent, while the international business saw a constant currency growth of 10 per cent. The company attributed this growth to a combination of factors, including favourable operating conditions in certain FMCG categories, especially premium and urban-centric segments.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Marico Ltd, Saugata Gupta, expressed satisfaction with the company's performance, highlighting their highest-ever annual operating margin and sequential improvement in both domestic and international businesses. Gupta outlined a three-year phased roadmap aimed at enhancing direct reach from around 1 million outlets to 1.5 million outlets, signalling ambitious expansion plans.

The international business of Marico reported strong broad-based growth, with Bangladesh recovering from transient headwinds and robust momentum in MENA and South Africa. Gupta emphasized the importance of delivering revenue-led earnings growth in the near and medium term, leveraging the evolving operating environment.

Looking ahead, Marico remains optimistic amid improving macro-indicators and forecasts of a normal monsoon. The company expects gradual growth in its core categories, driven by initiatives to enhance the profitability of General Trade (GT) channel partners and the transformative expansion of direct reach footprint with the roll-out of Project SETU.

The consolidated revenue growth, which turned positive in Q4, is anticipated to trend upwards throughout FY25. Marico foresees domestic revenue growth outpacing volume growth from Q1FY25 onwards, signalling a promising trajectory for the company's future performance.

(With PTI inputs)