Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) on Wednesday released its fiscal first quarter earnings with profit at Rs 450.69 crore, up 41.4 per cent in comparison to Rs 318.82 crore recorded during the corresponding quarter of FY24, missing estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 3331.58 crore, down 3.4 per cent as against Rs 3448.91 crore during the same period of previous fiscal year. The company EBITDA stood at Rs 724.5 crore. According to a CNBC TV18 poll, GCPL was expected to record Q1 profit at Rs 475 crore and revenue was estimated at Rs 3485 crore.
The company board declared an interim dividend @ Rs 5 per share (500 per cent on shares of face value of Re 1 each) for the financial year 2024-25.
While the company’s India business recorded organic volume growth by 8 per cent and reported volume grew by 10 per cent, Indonesia volumes grew by 7 per cent and sales was up by 11 per cent in constant currency terms YoY. Africa, USA and Middle East (organic) sales declined 25 per cent in INR terms and 10 per cent in constant currency terms, year-on-year. Latin America and SAARC sales was up 7 per cent in INR terms and grew by 147 per cent in constant currency terms, year-on-year.
Sudhir Sitapati, Managing Director and CEO, GCPL, said, “We started the year with a healthy volume growth in our key geographies of India and Indonesia. In India, we delivered an organic volume growth of 8 per cent and reported volume growth of 10 per cent. The performance was broad-based across Home Care and Personal Care.”
“Our EBITDA Margin, too, improved by 310 bps year-on-year. We remain focused on driving volume-led growth along with healthy investments in our brands and improvement in profitability. We continue to have a strong balance sheet. We are on track in our journey to reduce wasted cost and are deploying this to drive profitable and sustainable volume growth across our portfolio through category development,” he added.
GCPL’s Q1 performance across business verticals
Home Care: The segment grew by 8 per cent. GCPL said that Household Insecticides volume growth was stable at low-single digit, impacted by severe heat waves. Goodknight Agarbatti is scaling up well and gaining market share from illegal Incense Stick players. Air Fresheners, it added, continue to consistently deliver double-digit volume growth. Fabric Care delivered strong double-digit volume growth.
Personal Care: The segment grew by 6 per cent. Personal Wash delivered stable volume growth at low single-digit. Magic Hand Wash continues to deliver strong double-digit volume growth and gain share. Hair Colours volume was flat. Overall, the category was impacted by lesser wedding dates in this quarter which is expected to normalise in the coming quarters. Park Avenue and KamaSutra delivered sales of Rs 153 crore. Sexual Wellness delivered ahead of expectations and continues to gain market share. We are on track to achieve full-year ambition, the company said.
Entry into pet care business
Godrej Consumer Products announced that it has entered into Pet Care business in India through Godrej Pet Care (GPC), a subsidiary of GCPL. It said that pet care is a Rs 5,000 crore category, with a potential of strong double-digit growth for the next few decades. GCPL will invest Rs 500 crore over a period of 5 years in GPC and plans to commence production in the second half of FY 2026.
Sudhir Sitapati, Managing Director and CEO, GCPL, said, “Today, we are announcing the formation of Godrej Pet Care (GPC), a subsidiary of GCPL. Pet foods is already a Rs 5,000 crore category with many decades of late teens growth ahead. To give a perspective, only ~10 per cent of Indians own a pet of which only 10 per cent feed packaged food and that too only 40 per cent of the time. Calorie conversion in India is only 4 per cent. China, which was remarkably similar to India 15 years ago, has 20 per cent pet ownership with a calorie conversion of 25 per cent. While the opportunity is clear, we believe that our right to win as a group is high. GAVL, our group company, is the market leader in animal feed and has a good understanding of pet foods R&D, with competitive advantages in the supply chain. GCPL will invest the entire capital of Rs 500 crore in GPC over a period of 5 years, post which we see GPC becoming cash flow positive. GAVL will be our manufacturing and R&D partner. Lead times to set up capex are long, and we hope to commence manufacturing in the second half of next year.”