NEW DELHI: FMCG major Dabur India has reported a 19.5 per cent surge in net profit in the second quarter of 2020-21, backed by an increased demand for its ayurvedic healthcare, hygiene and nutrition products, and a new line of products to meet consumer needs in the wake of the Covid2019 pandemic.
Dabur ended Q2 2020-21 with a 13.7 per cent growth in consolidated revenue at Rs 2,516 crore, up from 2,212 crore a year earlier. This is the highest revenue growth reported by the company in the last couple of years. Consolidated net profit for Q2 rose to Rs 481.7 crore as against Rs 403 crore a year earlier.
Dabur's India FMCG business led the growth with a 19.8 per cent surge, with an underlying volume growth of 16.8 per cent during the second quarter of 2020-21. Dabur's standalone net profit grew 20.6 per cent to Rs 392.7 crore as against Rs 325.5 crore a year earlier.
"While COVID-19 continues to impact people around the world, Dabur India Ltd's strategic business transformation exercise to develop and implement aggressive growth strategies in the core business areas and successfully address the emerging challenges helped us deliver a healthy topline growth accompanied by an expansion in Margin. Our domestic healthcare business reported a strong 49 per cent growth, with the recent consumer-relevant innovations contributing to around 5-6 per cent of our revenue. Our international business has also staged a smart recovery and reported a growth of 5.5 per cent despite the key GCC market continuing to face macro-economic headwinds," said Dabur India CEO Mohit Malhotra.
Malhotra further said that Dabur continued to focus on strengthening its core healthcare portfolio with the introduction of new innovations, coupled with heavy investments behind its power brands and expanding its distribution might. This has enabled the company to grow ahead of categories and gain market share across the portfolio.
Rural demand grew ahead of urban, the company said, in line with what most large packaged consumer goods companies have reported.
Favourable monsoon and enhanced stimulus announced by the government as part of its overall thrust on boosting rural economy is expected to further drive rural demand in the coming months.
Share of e-commerce to overall sales of the company grew to 6 per cent from 2.1 per cent in the previous year.
"Healthcare, particularly the portfolio of our immunity-boosting products, continues to be the outperformer for Dabur. This is also in line with our strategy of focusing on the consumer health categories. The home and personal care business also reported a recovery, growing by high single digits, while the domestic foods business saw a strong revival with in-home consumption returning to near normal levels. However, this category was impacted by the continued closure of Hotels, Restaurants and Institutional businesses," said Malhotra.
The health supplements business for Dabur reported a 70.8 per cent growth during Q2 of 2020-21. The ayurvedic OTC range grew by over 56 per cent while the ayurvedic ethicals business ended Q2 with an over 26 per cent growth. While the traditional skin care business continued to face headwinds, the strong demand for the newly launched personal hygiene products range helped the overall category end the quarter with an over 38 per cent growth. Dabur's oral care sales was up over 24 per cent with its flagship Dabur Red Paste reporting strong double-digit growth. The shampoo business, on the back of strong demand for Vatika Shampoo, grew by nearly 18 per cent in Q2.
The company has declared an interim dividend of 175 per cent for 2020-21. "Continuing with our payout policy, the board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 1.75 per share, aggregating to a total payout of Rs 309.30 crore," Dabur India Ltd chairman Amit Burman said.
