Riding on strong volume-driven growth across its key categories like hair care (oils and shampoos), oral care, health supplements and digestives, Dabur India has ended the fourth quarter with net profit of Rs 104.3 crore, 31 per cent growth from Rs 79.64 crore a year earlier.
The consolidated gross sales for the quarter marked a 20 per cent surge to Rs 737.06 crore as against Rs 614.61 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Dabur ended the 2008-09 fiscal with a 17.5 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 391.21 crore, up from Rs 332.9 crore a year earlier. The gross sales for the financial year stood at Rs 2834.11 crore, up 18.3 per cent from Rs 2396.29 crore in the previous year.
“Consumer spending remains robust in FMCG and we continue to report sales growth ahead of the market in several key categories. We have sustained growth across all our product categories. Hair oils reported an impressive 23 per cent growth during the quarter, led by Anmol Coconut Oil and Dabur Amla Hair Oil. Shampoos too continued to outperform the industry with a near 31 per cent growth. With this, Vatika has emerged as the fastest selling shampoo brand in the country for three years in a row,” said Sunil Duggal, CEO, Dabur India.
“We are confident that our volume growth would continue to remain robust in both urban and rural areas. Dabur has reported faster growth in rural India on better realizations due to higher farm output and a host of pro-farmer policy initiatives announced by the government. We will continue to focus on expanding our rural India footprint. Additionally, with raw material prices easing in the latter part of the year, we are now witnessing margin expansion, which may continue,” Duggal added.
The fourth quarter also saw Dabur India roll out a host of new products and initiatives including malted food drink Chyawan Junior, besides the introduction of Vatika Enriched Almond Hair Oil and Dabur Total Protect shampoo.
— IndiaRetailing Bureau
