India's Marico expects revenue uptick in core categories for FY25; focus on foods segment
CHENNAI/BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's Marico, which owns the Saffola and Parachute brands of packaged oils, expects revenue growth to outpace its volume growth in fiscal 2025, it said on Monday, adding that it would aggressively scale up food and personal care portfolios.
The consumer goods major said it expects a gradual revenue uptick in its core categories on account of stabilising macro-indicators and a normal monsoon forecast this year.
It aims to scale up the foods and premium personal care portfolios to improve profitability parameters, and expects its share of domestic revenue from these segments to expand to about 25% by FY27 from about 20% currently. "We aim to grow Foods at 20% compound annual growth rate," it said.
Marico added that it aims to maintain its double-digit percentage growth momentum, on a constant currency basis, in FY25 and beyond in its international business.
The company posted a 5.3% rise in consolidated net profit to 3.18 billion rupees ($38.1 million) for the fourth quarter.
However, it missed analysts' average estimate of 3.23 billion rupees, as per LSEG data, as neither price cuts in crucial domestic portfolios nor new product ranges could sway customer demand.
For the quarter, revenue from operations rose 2% to 22.78 billion rupees, snapping a three-quarter run of falling revenue, but it missed analysts' average estimates of 22.87 billion rupees.
The company added that it aims to back its outlook with substantial investments and demand-generation initiatives during the year.
Marico's shares turned volatile at the close of trade as results came in 15 minutes before the closing bell, before ending 2.6% higher. They are down 2.8% so far this year.
Among peers, Hindustan Unilever missed quarterly earnings estimates but said a recovery in demand in rural areas is underway, while Nestle India reported a bigger-than-expected rise owing to higher product prices.
($1 = 83.4530 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
