INDIA – Dabur India Ltd has announced a 7 percent increase in consolidated revenue for the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year, reaching Rs 3,349 crore US$398.9M).
This growth was driven by steady performance across all key business verticals despite a challenging demand environment characterized by high food inflation and elevated unemployment rates.
The company achieved an 8.3 percent growth in operating profit, showcasing the resilience of its business model. The India FMCG sector saw a volume growth of 5.2 percent during the quarter.
Mohit Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer of Dabur India Limited, highlighted the positive start to the financial year.
“It’s been a good start to the new financial year as we drove sequential recovery in volume growth, driven by rural markets, to report industry-leading performance across our key verticals. This allowed us to invest more behind our brands to drive market expansion and sustain our growth momentum,” Malhotra said.
Dabur’s international business reported an impressive 18.4 percent growth in constant currency terms.
Geographically, the company recorded a nearly 64 percent growth in Egypt, 181 percent growth in Nigeria, 21.4 percent growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a 13 percent increase in the MENA region.
The company’s product portfolios also demonstrated strong growth. The 100 percent Fruit juice segment grew by 21 percent, and the Carbonated Fruit Drinks category surged by 90 percent.
The Shampoo portfolio increased by 13.7 percent, and the Health Supplements business grew by 7 percent. Additionally, the Foods segment saw a 21.3 percent increase.
To cater to its expanding network, Dabur revealed it has launched new affordable and rural-specific pack bundles across various categories. The company has also invested in consumer activations in rural areas to strengthen its market presence.
In May 2024, Dabur introduced ‘Dabur GlucoPlus-C,’ an instant energy drink, marking its entry into the ready-to-drink glucose category.
In July, the company rolled out the fourth phase of its sugar reduction initiative, aiming to reduce added sugars by an average of 3 percent across two-thirds of its beverage portfolio.
In 2019, Dabur adopted a phased reformulation approach to reduce sugar content in its beverages. According to its annual report, the company achieved significant milestones in the first three phases of this initiative.
In the first phase, Dabur lowered sugar content by an average of 5.4 percent. This was followed by a reduction of 7.5 percent in the second phase and another 6.7 percent in the third phase.
Overall, these efforts have led to a 20.95 percent reduction in added sugar from the 2018 baseline, equating to approximately 1,300 metric tons of reduced sugar consumption annually.
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