Marico eyes 8-10% domestic volume growth from this fiscal

Homegrown FMCG major Marico is targeting an 8-10 per cent volume growth in the country along with healthy market share gains, a top company official has said.

"For FY19 and beyond, we retain the target of 8-10 per cent volume growth in India accompanied by healthy market share gains. Accelerated innovation and our focus on digital will be strong enablers," Marico managing director and chief executive officer Saugata Gupta said in the company's annual report.

Acknowledging that digital is the future, the company is embedding it in consumer engagement, creating digital brands and charting aggressive growth plans for e-commerce.

"We are also working towards a differentiated operating model to accelerate our Horizon 2.0 initiatives. Our investments in Beardo and Revofit will augment our efforts further," he said.

According to Gupta, e-commerce and modern trade posted healthy growth and should lead growth in FY19.

"The leadership team's focus on nurturing new engines of growth in premium hair nourishment, male grooming, skin care and healthy foods shall ensure broad-based growth in the coming years," Gupta said.

The company had acquired 45 per cent stake in Beardo, a men's grooming brand that sells beard oils, beard waxes, soaps and other grooming products for men's facial hair, in March last year.

In April this year, it had acquired up to 22.5 per cent stake in Revofit, a fitness and wellness solutions app.

The company that makes Parachute and Saffola, is also bullish on the rural consumption this fiscal.

"Given the stable macro-environment and early forecasts of a normal monsoon, we hope for healthy consumption growth, especially in the rural segment. The government's thrust on improving farmer disposable incomes should further provide the much needed fillip to rural consumption," he said.

With rural sales contributing 32 per cent of domestic revenues, the company expects to take this up by at least 3-4 percentage points in the next 3-5 years by driving penetration through price point packs and focused go-to-market initiatives.

He further said while the current inflationary input costs may impact profitability in the first half, the company believes that focus on franchise expansion with threshold margins will stand them in good stead to write a medium-term profitable growth story.