Dabur India reports net profit for FY20 at Rs 1,445 crore

Dabur India continued to surge forward on its growth track through the first two months of the fourth quarter of 2019-20, with quarterly revenue from operations growing by 4.5% till February-end. However, the exceptional event in the form of the Covid-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdown significantly impacted Dabur’s business in March 2020. The revenue for the fourth Quarter of 2019-20 ended with a 12.3% decline. Dabur India ended Q4 of 2019-20 with a consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 1,865 crore as against Rs 2,128 crore a year ago. Consolidated Net Profit for the quarter stood at Rs 281 crore as against Rs 370 crore a year earlier. Dabur was on track to deliver a 4.5% growth in quarterly revenue and 12.5% growth in Net Profit before Exceptional, had COVID-19 not happened.

For the full year 2019-20, Dabur reported a 2% growth in revenue from operations at Rs 8,704 Crore, up from Rs 8,533 Crore a year earlier. International Business for Dabur reported a 4.9% growth during the 2019-20 financial year. Net profit for the full year stood at Rs 1,445 Crore, up 0.2% from Rs 1,442 Crore a year earlier. The 2019-20 Net Profit was impacted by one-time impairment in value of Investments to the tune of Rs 100 Crore. Excluding this impairment, the Net Profit for the year marked a 5.8% growth year-on-year. But for Covid-19, Dabur was on track to deliver a best-in-class 6% growth in revenue and 13.8% growth in Net Profit before Exceptional for 2019-20 fiscal.

“Dabur opened the fourth quarter on a positive note, successfully tapping the growth opportunities. However, the COVID outbreak in March, followed by the nationwide lockdown, caused severe disruptions in our business and brought Sales to a virtual standstill in the second fortnight of March 2020. With most of the products across our health care, home, and personal care and foods portfolio falling in the non-essential category, the pre-season Sales of skewed summer products to meet the seasonal demand was severely impacted. As the lockdown restrictions eased gradually, Dabur has been at the forefront of delivering authentic Ayurvedic solutions to meet the emerging health care needs of consumers in the post-Covid market. Demand patterns have changed significantly, with consumers increasingly seeking Ayurveda-based interventions for boosting their immunity, besides products that meet their personal and household hygiene needs. We are already witnessing a 400% surge in demand for our flagship immunity booster Dabur Chyawanprash and an 80% growth in Dabur Honey. With these products facing a stock-out in the market, we have already invested in expanding capacity to meet the growing demand,” Dabur India chief executive officer Mohit Malhotra said.

In line with the changing demand patterns, Dabur has developed a strong pipeline of innovations to address the growing consumer need for preventive healthcare and personal hygiene. It has rolled out a slew of innovations in the preventive healthcare space with the launch of immunity boosters like Dabur Tulsi Drops, Dabur Amla Juice, Dabur Giloy-Neem-Tulsi juice and Dabur Immunity Kit, to name a few. In addition, the company has also ventured into the personal & household hygiene space with the launch of hand sanitizers, air sanitizers and disinfectants under the Dabur Sanitize brand.

“As a brand, Dabur evokes feelings of Trust, Health and Well-Being in the minds of our consumers. We are leveraging our 135-year-old Ayurvedic heritage and the strong distribution network to drive demand in the post-COVID scenario. We have already invested in building a strong rural footprint, which today covers over 52,000 villages. We are investing in enhancing this coverage to around 60,000 villages by the end of this year, which would further strengthen our foundation and help us deliver sustainable, profitable growth in the coming quarters. With our ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign, we are highlighting our Ayurvedic and Indian heritage, and our strong sense of pride about ‘Made in India, by Indians, for Indians,” Malhotra added.

The Dabur Group has committed Rs 21 crore towards relief efforts to help meet the immediate needs of those most affected by this pandemic. “In these unprecedented times, I am extremely proud of how the entire Dabur family has come forward to support the Government’s COVID relief initiatives. Alongside, we have been contributing towards relief and containment efforts, extending support to Medical Teams, Sanitation workers and the frontline Police Personnel working to make the world safer during the lockdown,” Dabur India chairman Amit Burman said.

Dabur has taken measures to ensure the safety of its workforce around the world and has increased safety protocols and standards across all our offices and manufacturing units. The company has also rolled out a special Insurance scheme ‘Dabur Aashray’ for the frontline sales force who were not covered under the corporate and state insurance scheme to support them and take care of their medical needs in case of any emergency arising out of Covid-19.

The Board of Directors recommended a Final Dividend of 160%. “Continuing with our Dividend Payout policy, the Board has proposed a dividend of Rs 1.60 per share, aggregating to Rs. 282.74 Crore,” Burman said.