The fall in revenue and earnings were led by the poor show by the homecare segment, which is its biggest business vertical that houses brands like Surf Excel and Comfort, posting mid-single-digit percentage volume growth.
Commenting on the numbers, Rohit Jawa, the chief executive and managing director of the company, said, “We delivered a resilient performance crossing the Rs 10,000 crore net profit mark for the full fiscal. We remain focused on driving operational excellence and have continued to build back our gross margins while stepping up investment in brands and long-term capabilities.”
He added, “Looking forward, I am optimistic of consumer demand gradually improving due to a normal monsoon and better macro-economic indicators. With rising affluence, under-indexed FMCG consumption and a strong digital infrastructure, we are very confident of the medium to long-term potential of the market.”
Volume growth was 2 percent with negative realisation for a consequent second quarter. “We expect slow and modest recovery resulting in gradual pick up in volume with realisations turning positive in H2FY25. We believe heightened competitive intensity will limit any meaningful recovery in both volumes and margins in the near term,” Amnish Aggarwal, the head of institutional research at Prabhudas Lilladher said.
