Markets at uncomfortable levels – Book profits
It was an action-packed week, with markets volatile but range-bound for the first four days.
India Inc reported the results for the first quarter of the Financial Year 2024. It was a mixed quarter with the majority companies across industries reporting in-line results while few either surpassed expectations while many others missed analysts’ estimates.
Demand recovery has been quite long-drawn in the rural economy. It is to be highlighted that volume growth remains modest with FMCG businesses playing a pivotal role.
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Hindustan Unilever showed 3 per cent growth, Britannia reported 4.5 per cent growth and DABUR saw a modest 3 per cent growth.
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HUL posted a fiscal first-quarter profit at Rs 2,556 crore, up 6.9 per cent in comparison to Rs 2,391 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.
Dabur posted fiscal first-quarter profit at Rs 456.61 core, up 3.5 per cent on-year as against Rs 441.06 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23.
ITC posted its fiscal first-quarter profit at Rs 5180.12 crore, up 16.1 per cent in comparison to Rs 4462.25 crore during the first quarter of FY23.
The prices of raw materials peaked in Q1FY23 and continued to soften since then. It was further corrected in Q1FY24, with several key RMs such as crude, palm oil, copra, coffee, rice bran, palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) and linear alkyl benzene (LAB) correcting YoY.
This led to QoQ and YoY improvements in Q1FY24 gross margins for most companies.
Another significant reason for the growth was the pick in demand. Demand trends in the domestic market for Q1FY24 continue to be in line with those of the previous few quarters.
Urban markets were steady, but the pick up in the rural demand remained elusive for most companies.
As per NielsenIQ data, India’s organised retail sector, accounting for approximately 12 per cent of total FMCG sales, witnessed its highest growth in six quarters, recording a year-on-year surge of 21.1 per cent during the April-June period. This growth was fueled by a stable urban demand environment.
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