Thought leadership: Saugata Gupta - Managing Director and CEO of Marico Ltd outlines the company prospects and growth projections

Marico Limited India's leading consumer goods company operating in the global beauty and wellness categories has reported a 7.06% increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2185 crore for the fourth quarter which ended on March 2022. Its revenue was up 13.22% to Rs 257 crore.

In a recent interview with BQ Prime Saugata Gupta stated the following points.

Gupta said that after facing covid waves as they were settling, they had to face the issues created by the Ukraine-Russia war. He thinks that currently they have entered a period of another round of uncertainty and volatility and inflation will remain the same for a while. The combination of inflationary pressure on crude, input cost and food are not good for the FMCG industry as it leads to titration and down trading. He thinks this will persist in the first half of the financial year and start easing after that.

Saugata Gupta further added that to tackle this Marico will stay invested in the market and continue innovating in food and digital markets. Even though these are tough times, the past two years have taught the industry players are not only more resilient but have also enhanced their coping mechanisms.

Regarding the volume and value growth of Marico, Gupta said that it may be challenged and they might increase the prices of products in their portfolio. But they are going to look at three things; 1) if they are gaining market share and penetration 2) if they are growing ahead of the market 3) if their innovation in food and digital domains is improving. 

The good things about Marico are that 50% of their input cost basket is protected and their international business is predictable and sustainable.

Concerning Marico’s growth, they are planning to expand Safola and are also scaling up an exclusive food GTM (go-to-market) for a select set of outlets in at least 10-15 towns. This year their food business grew by 50% and they are planning to introduce 1-2 more categories in the next couple of quarters. He believes that food is their biggest pillar of diversification from the core.

Saugata Gupta said that the digital segment will be a mixture of organic and inorganic as Marico is a strong and trusted strategic partner for many D2C brands might achieve their target of FY24.

He concluded by saying that they aspire to tackle the current situation and deliver results in both domestic and international markets.