Godrej Consumer Products ‘Soaps’ category sees strong turnaround in Q2-2015 with new marketing campaign

Godrej Consumer Products ‘Soaps’ category sees strong turnaround in Q2-2015 with new marketing campaign

BENGALURU: Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) reported 9.1 per cent growth in Total Income from Operations (TIO) in Q2-2015 to Rs 2060.12 crore from Rs 1888.51 crore in Q1-2015 and 5 per cent growth from Rs 1961.72 crore in Q2-2015. For HY-2015, TIO grew 7 per cent to Rs 3948.63 crore from Rs 3668.62 crore in HY-2014.

Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakhs = 10 million = 1 crore

The company in its press release says that despite the Soaps category continued de-growth in this quarter the company saw a good turnaround with sales growth of 13 per cent. Godrej No. 1 recorded a sharp uptick in growth rates, aided by new marketing campaign and focused activation programmes. The launch of Cinthol’s new germ protection variant “Confidence+” has received an encouraging response, adds the company.

The company’s Ad and Publicity spend (Ad spend)  at Rs 211.69 crore ( 10.3 per cent of TIO) for the current quarter was 15.4 per cent lower than the Rs 250.20 crore (13.2 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter and was 4 per cent lower than the Rs 220.60 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.

Over a 10 quarter period starting Q1-2013 until Q2-2015, ad spend shows an upward linear trend in absolute rupee terms, while the spends seems to have flattened out to in terms of percentage of TIO. GCPL‘s ad spend in terms of absolute rupees has been in Q1-2015 at Rs 250.20 crore above. In terms of percentage of TIO, the company’s ad spend was highest in Q1-2014 at 13.8 per cent of TIO. Please refer to Fig A below.

GCPL’s  PAT in Q2-2015 at Rs 234.53 (11.4 per cent of TIO) crore in Q2-2015 was 63.5 per cent higher than the Rs 143.45 crore in Q1-2015 and 20.3 per cent higher that the Rs 195.97 crore (9.9 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2014. For HY-2015, PAT at Rs 377.98 crore was 15.4 per cent more than the Rs 327,68 crore in HY-2014.

Over the10 quarter period under consderation, PAT has been highest in Q4-2013, both in terms of absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO at Rs 334.14 crore and 19.4 per cent of TIO. Over the period under consideration, PAT in terms of absolute rupees shows an upward linear trend, while PAT in terms of percantage of TIO shows a slight downward trend, probably on account  of the high PAT in Q4-2013 mentioned above. Please refer to Fig B below.

Commenting on the financial performance of Q2-2015, Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej said,

“Consumer demand remained subdued in the second quarter of fiscal year 2014-2015, making this one of the slowest years of growth for the Indian FMCG industry in over a decade. We have however, continued to outperform the market and our brands have further strengthened their leadership positions. Our net profit grew strongly this quarter at 20 per cent. Sales were however impacted by a soft performance in the household insecticide category due to the deficient and delayed monsoon in India, and the impact of an adverse forex translation in our international businesses. Overall, our international businesses delivered a good constant currency growth of 12 per cent. Indonesia, our largest international business, achieved a strong constant currency growth of 15 per cent.”

“We believe that the Indian FMCG industry is now showing early signs of recovery. Growth has improved in the latter part of this quarter, particularly in September. While any recovery is likely to be gradual, we believe that after many quarters, environmental indicators are now trending in the right direction. We are confident that the second half of this year will be better than the first half.

In this uncertain environment, we continue to focus on sustaining and extending leadership in our core categories. We are managing our costs prudently in the near term, while investing for the longer term. We are also continuing our pace of launching exciting new products.

The medium and long-term growth prospects in India and our other emerging markets remain robust. I am confident that with our clear strategic focus, differentiated product portfolio, superior execution and top-notch team, we will continue to deliver industry-leading results,” added Godrej.

 

Click here to read the unaudited financial result

 

Click here to read the press release