Homegrown FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) on Friday reported a 51.53 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 935.24 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 617.19 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, GCPL said in a BSE filing. However, its total revenue from operations during the quarter fell 3.06 per cent to Rs 2,481.72 crore, compared with Rs 2,560.14 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. GCPL Executive Chairperson Nisaba Godrej said, "We delivered a relatively weak performance in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019. Our India business remained soft on account of a general slowdown in staples consumption and the adverse impact of the delayed summer on our portfolio."

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The firm's total expense stood at Rs 1,974.73 crore, against Rs 2,016.65 crore, a drop of 2.07 per cent. During the quarter, GCPL's India sales were marginally down 0.9 per cent to Rs 1,356.09 crore, compared with Rs 1,369.76 crore in the year-ago period. While its international business sales grew 10 per cent on a constant currency basis, said GCPL in a statement. Its revenue from the Indonesian business was up 19.34 per cent to Rs 412.47 crore as against Rs 345.60 crore a year ago. While Africa business, which also includes 'Strength of Nature' brand, was at Rs 587.09 crore in the January-March 2019 period, a rise of 13.15 per cent as against Rs 518.83 crore in the year-ago period.

"In our international businesses, Indonesia continued its strong profitable growth momentum. Africa had a soft performance, led by the temporary slowdown in Nigeria due to elections and a gradual recovery in South Africa," she said. For the entire financial year 2018-19, GCPL's profit was Rs 2,341.53 crore. It was Rs 1,634.18 crore in the previous year. Its total income in the previous fiscal stood at Rs 10,423.10 crore. It was Rs 10,048.70 crore in 2017-18. On the outlook, Nisaba Godrej said, "For fiscal year 2020, we are planning for robust sales growth in India on the back of a continued focus on innovations and enhancements to our go-to-market model."

GCPL has also declared an interim dividend of 2 per share on the shares of the face value of Re 1 each. Shares of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd on Friday were trading at Rs 645.25 on the BSE, down 1.14 per cent from the previous close.