Indian consumer firm Marico expects to clock double-digit year-on-year growth in operating profit in the fourth quarter, aided by stable consumer demand. In an exchange filing, the maker of Saffola oils and Parachute haircare products said it has witnessed a gradual uptick in consumption across categories after several quarters of tepid demand from customers in urban areas, following reductions in goods and services tax in September.
“We remain hopeful of a gradual improvement in consumption trends in the quarters ahead, while the macroeconomic impact of the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East is a key monitorable,” the company said in a statement ahead of the Q4 earnings.
Marico: Key growth leading products
“We remain confident of delivering healthy volume-led revenue growth in FY27”, the company said.
Saffola cooking oils and Parachute coconut hair oils, which together account for about half of Marico’s India revenue, are expected to register high single-digit and low single-digit growth, respectively.
Marico also expects volume growth for Parachute hair oil to pick up over fiscal year 2027.
The company’s underlying volume growth in the India business remained in the high single-digit, marking a slight improvement from a quarter ago, the company added.
Marico: Cost and margin
On the cost front, Marico said that among key inputs, copra prices corrected ~35% from their peak and are expected to be rangebound in the coming months.
The company said that while vegetable oils and crude-sensitive materials exhibit a pronounced upward bias, we will continue to judiciously exercise the pricing power of our franchises to alleviate the impact of the same, while maintaining assured availability of crude-linked inputs
“We expect a sequential improvement in gross margin, driven by easing copra prices. Brand building investments were sustained to strengthen the longterm equity of our franchises and accelerate portfolio diversification”, the company said.
Gulf market takes a hit
“Each market contributed positively, apart from the Gulf region, which was impacted by ongoing geopolitical headwinds in March,” the company said. The consumer goods maker operates in various countries internationally including South Africa and Bangladesh among others, besides home market of India.
Marico reported a 20% rise in consolidated revenue to Rs 2700 crore in the fourth quarter last year.