Consumer demand steady in March quarter, expect double-digit volume growth: GCPL

Consumer demand remained "steady" through the March quarter and the FMCG sector is expected to witness a gradual recovery in growth rates, said Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) on Wednesday.

The performance of the Godrej group FMCG arm in the Indian market has "exceeded expectations, especially on the volume front".

"We expect to deliver double-digit volume and value growth. Our domestic branded business growth was very strong registering volume and value growth in teens," GCPL said in its latest quarterly updates.

Overall, the growth was broad-based and led by double-digit volume and value growth in both Home Care and Personal Care, it added.

"This is in line with our strategy of volume-driven category development," it added.

On the international markets, GPCL said its second-largest market Indonesia has also started to see a gradual recovery in performance with mid-single-digit constant currency sales growth.

"The growth ex-Hygiene is close to double digits. We believe building blocks in Indonesia are in place to drive steady-to-strong performance in the next fiscal year," it said.

Godrej Africa, the USA, and Middle East (GAUM) witnessed a temporary pause in its strong double-digit sales growth momentum, clocking higher than mid-single digit sales growth in constant currency terms.

"This was due to elections and the impact of demonetisation in Nigeria. However, we have seen a strong sales recovery in March," it said.

On a consolidated basis, GCPL " expects to deliver double-digit growth in INR terms led by mid-single digit volume growth".
The growth trends continue to improve sequentially, it added.

On profits, GCPL said it "should see improvement", helped by gross margin recovery and continued marketing investments translating to strong double-digit EBITDA growth.