Insecticides, hygiene drive Godrej’s India sales

Fast-moving consumer goods maker Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) has seen its consolidated sales decline one per cent year-on-year, but India business grew five per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. The growth was led by robust demand for its household insecticides and hygiene products, while hair colour and other categories continued to de-grow.

This quarter was tough due to the challenges we faced with lockdowns across geographies and the ensuing supply side issues. Going foreward, however, we  are  focusing  our  efforts  on  where  the  demand  is — in  household insecticides and hygiene.

"We have several new launches, strongly price-enabled, across geographies. It is not just our categories; our channels too are seeing a shift, and we will be doubling down on digitisation and platforms like e-commerce", said GCPL chairperson and managing director Nisaba Godrej.

Category-wise, insecticides and hygiene grew by 27 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. The company posted a 3.1 per cent fall year-on-year in its June quarter consolidated net profit to Rs 395 crore compared to Rs 407.6 crore in the year-ago period. The profit included a one-time gain of Rs 14 crore. 

Revenue of the company was down 12.5 per cent to Rs 2,327.3 crore versus Rs 2,348.8 crore in Q1 FY20. International markets such as Africa, USA and Middle East were severely impacted due to the Covid 19-induced lockdown.  

It had seen a degrowth of 23 per cent in constant currency terms in these markets. “The silver lining was that May and June were much stronger than April, and big markets like Africa and Nigeria are gradually picking up,” Godrej said.