GCPL Q3 Results: Net profit falls 14.24% to Rs 498.31 crore

GCPL Q3 Results: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd on Friday reported a 14.24 per cent decline in consolidated profit after tax at Rs 498.31 crore in the third quarter ended December 2024, impacted by demand headwinds in India and surge in palm oil prices.

The company had posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 581.06 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated total revenue from operations in the quarter under review stood at Rs 3,768.43 crore as against Rs 3,659.64 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Total expenses in the third quarter were higher at Rs 3,164.09 crore as compared to Rs 2,939.39 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said.

"Demand conditions in India have witnessed temporary headwinds over the past few months, led by a slowdown in urban consumption," GCPL Managing Director and CEO Sudhir Sitapati said.

The rise in palm oil prices by more than 40 per cent along with weak seasonality in household insecticides has led to a flat underlying volume growth and mid-single digit underlying sales growth for the standalone business, he said.

"The surge in palm oil costs is negatively impacting our EBITDA margin," Sitapati said.
In the third quarter India sales grew by 4 per cent and volumes were flat, the company said, adding that EBITDA declined by 21 per cent.

"Premium formats in household insecticides were impacted due to urban slowdown and category seasonality, however we have started to gain market share within premium formats...," Sitapati said.

On the other hand, Indonesia sales grew by 8 per cent in constant currency terms while volumes grew by 6 per cent, and Africa, USA and Middle East (organic) sales grew by 1 per cent in constant currency terms, the company added.

GCPL said its board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share on equity shares of face value of Re 1 each for the financial year 2024-25.

Commenting on the way ahead, Sitapati said, "We remain focused on driving volume-led growth along with healthy investments in our brands and improvement in profitability. We continue to have a strong balance sheet.

"We are on track in our journey to reduce wasted cost and are deploying this to drive profitable and sustainable volume growth across our portfolio through category development."