MUMBAI: At a time when the ad industry has been marred by the effects of an economic slowdown, FMCG company Marico Limited upped its ad spend by a sizeable 78.47 per cent in the second quarter ended 30 September compared to a year earlier.
Marico‘s advertising spend in the second quarter rose to Rs 1.59 billion from Rs 888.58 million a year earlier.
The percentage of total income spent on advertising and promotions also rose considerably to 13.72 per cent in the second quarter from 9.15 per cent a year earlier.
The company‘s revenue rose 19.36 per cent in the second quarter to Rs 11.29 billion from Rs 9.71 billion a year earlier. The FMCG major‘s profit for the second quarter increased by 11.13 per cent to Rs 888.58 million in the second quarter from Rs 799.58 million a year earlier.
In the first half of the current year too, the company‘s advertising spend rose 68.82 per cent to Rs 3.14 billion from Rs 1.86 billion a year earlier. The percentage of total income dedicated to sales promotion also increased to 12.92 per cent in the first half of this year from 9.24 per cent a year earlier.
Marico‘s total income in the first half of the current year grew by 20.66 per cent to Rs 24.30 billion from Rs 20.14 billion a year earlier.
The company‘s net profit for the first half of the year was Rs 1.66 billion, up 29.52 per cent from Rs 2.15 billion a year earlier.
In May this year, Marico completed the acquisition of Set Wet, Livon, Zatak and certain other personal care brands from Reckitt Benckiser (RB).
The company said, "Our belief in the long term potential of our businesses continues to be strong. Our belief stands bolstered by the recent record of strong volume growth across categories. This emboldens us to spell out our preference for growing our volume franchise as compared to focusing on profit margins alone. Our recent acquisition of personal care brands in the male grooming/styling segments puts us in a good position to leverage the Indian demographic trends and build a portfolio of the future."
Marico group CFO Milind Sarwate said, "Marico‘s focus on building a well-entrenched consumer brand franchise is paying off. Our brands have continued to deliver volume growths and gain market share across categories. We continue to be confident of delivering long term value to our stakeholders."
