The makers of BoroPlus and Zandu Balm in their earnings release said despite the challenges of the second wave, the company was able to post one of its most profitable performances during the quarter. Emami said while personal care products were impacted, demand for health and hygiene products was also muted compared to the first wave.
Mohan Goenka, director at Emami Ltd said the profitability was not only higher than the base quarter, which was impacted by the nationwide lockdown, but also much superior to the normal first quarter of FY20 despite high input cost pressure. He said the revenue surge is also robust considering the severity of the impact of the second wave.
“The overall demand since early June has once again been showing improvement with the Covid positivity rates dropping to pre-2nd wave levels. Our focus on the progress of standalone modern stores as well as Project Khoj to increase footprints in rural areas is progressing steadily,” he said.
Emami’s domestic business sales grew by 42 per cent over the previous year during the quarter and also grew by 5 per cent over 2019. All the major brands of the company grew by more than 50 per cent during the quarter except Navratna which posted growth of 21 per cent due to lockdowns.
During the quarter, modern trade grew by 63 per cent and e-commerce continued its robust run growing by 3.7 times whereby the e-commerce business now contributes to almost 5 per cent of domestic revenues.
Emami said its international business grew by 17 per cent with all regions growing except the Middle East. During the quarter, Emami also increased its stake in Helios Lifestyle, makers of The Man Company’s range of products, which is in line with the company’s focus on strategic investments in start-ups to incubate new engines of growth.
Harsha V Agarwal, director at Emami, said the quarterly performance in posting high profit-led growth in the face of such a severe challenging environment reflects resilience, agility to meet rising demands, and intrinsic strength of core brands.
“We will continue to invest and focus on the healthcare portfolio, which has been consistently performing well with a growth of 59 per cent during the quarter. Our digital mindset and depth of consumer connect have led to the introduction of many digital-first products, some of which we plan to introduce to modern trade and chemists in due course,” he said.
