(Reuters) -Indian consumer firm Marico sees consolidated quarterly revenue growing about 30% year-on-year and expects “modest” operating profit growth, it said on Friday, driven by price hikes and higher sales of its premium hair oils.
The company, known for its Saffola brand of cooking oils, said underlying volume growth for its domestic business in the second quarter was in the high-single-digit percentage range.
Saffola cooking oils and the Parachute brand of coconut hair oils make up about half of Marico’s revenue in India.
Packaged cooking oils, a staple in households, have largely weathered a slowdown in urban demand that has dented the sales of other consumer conglomerates over the last few quarters.
Marico said its sales in the segment grew in the high-teens percentage range, despite volume growth being flat.
Its core hair oils segment saw volumes decline, hurt by a 60% price hike that was necessitated by surging input costs. Premium hair oils, on the other hand, saw growth in the high-teens percentage.
The company said India’s sweeping tax cuts have helped about 30% of its domestic business. This and festive season sales are seen improving consumer sentiment, it said.
Marico sees pressure on its gross margin, a core metric of profitability, easing in October-March.
(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
