Dabur Q4 net profit slips 22% to Rs 294.3 crore

05.05.2022 22:30

The growth in Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the quarter remained muted with an increase of 3% to 454 crore, as high material inflation continues to pinch. Consequently, Ebitda margins declined 90 basis points on a basis to 18% during the quarter.

Dabur India on Thursday reported a 22.1% year-on-year decline in the company’s consolidated net profit to Rs 294.2 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 due to an exceptional item on account of Turkey business and increase in tax expenses. The company reported an exceptional item of Rs 85 crore on account of impairment of goodwill of Turkey business due to steep devaluation of Turkish Lira. Also, the effective tax rate for consolidated business increased from 16.5% to 20.1%, which impacted profit.

However, net profit before exceptional item remained flat for the quarter. The consolidated revenue from operations increased 7.7% year-on-year to 2,518 crore in the March quarter. India standalone business revenue for the company increased by 7.6% year-on-year, while the growth in international business was 10.7% year-on-year in constant currency (CC) terms.

Mohit Malhotra, CEO, Dabur India, said, “The dramatic rise in input costs was the major challenge during the quarter. We responded to this challenge with a mix of pricing actions and cost control measures. These are challenging times, and we are happy to have progressed well in this journey with consumer-centric innovations to expand our total addressable market and gain market share across 99% of our product portfolio.” The company highlighted that there is a consumption slowdown and shrinkage in overall demand.

For the full year ended March 31, 2022, the underlying FMCG volume growth for Dabur was 10.1%. Dabur reported an increase of 3% in the consolidated net profit to 1,739 crore. The profits for the year remained impacted due to a rise in the effective tax rate for the consolidated business from 17.6% to 22.4% on account of increase in effective tax rate in India.

Revenue from operations for the year increased nearly 14% to 10,889 crore. India standalone business revenue increased by 13.8% while international business registered a growth of 15.8% in CC terms. Ebitda for the full year ended March 31, 2022 increased 12.5% to 2,254 crore, while operating margins declined 20 basis points to 20.7% due to high material inflation.

“Despite the near-term concerns around heightening inflationary pressures and a resultant consumption slowdown, Dabur will continue to plough investments behind its power brands, coupled with investment in expanding the rural footprint and enhancing the go-to-market approach to drive sustainable, profitable growth, going forward,” Malhotra said.

Dabur has expanded its rural coverage to reach around 90,000 villages, of this 30,000 new villages were added in last one year alone.

In terms of categories, Dabur’s food & beverages business reported a 33.5% growth during the quarter with its juices & beverages business growing at 35%. The home care business, riding on strong performance of air fresheners, ended the quarter with a 11% rise. The health supplements business, riding on strong demand for flagship brands like Dabur Honey and Dabur Glucose, ended up 9.7% during the quarter, while the OTC portfolio ended up 17% .