Marico faces a slight decline in volume growth of its India business

FMCG major Marico Ltd said its coconut and hair oils portfolio has witnessed a slight weak performance in the Q3, leading to a slight decline in volume growth of its India business.

In its quarterly update to the stock exchange, the company said that due to a decline in coconut oil, hair oils and other portfolios, the India business as a whole posted a marginal decline in volume growth. “Category growths across personal care remained under pressure, while foods and allied categories fared relatively better,” it further added. However, the company’s cooking oils and foods portfolio in India "delivered healthy double-digit volume growth.

“Overall consumption trends during the quarter belied expectations of the beginning of a revival in sentiment which were built on the back of good monsoons and announcement of various government measures," the company said. However, the company expects to deliver a reasonable bottomline, as "EBITDA margins are expected to improve year-on-year given benign input costs." In its September quarter, Marico registered a domestic volume growth of 1% for the quarter. The company’s India business—accounts for 78% of Marico’s turnover.

"The company expects some green shoots of recovery in Q4, on the back of focused marketing initiatives and pricing interventions taken in key portfolios, which have hit the shelves in the late stages of Q3 post clearing of older inventory in the channel," it added.