Market share focus to weigh on Dabur India's near-term profitability

Long-term prospects, however, remain intact despite slowing demand

Dabur India’s (Dabur) focus on market share gains at a time when demand is slowing, coupled with last year’s high base, could weigh on its March 2019 quarter (Q4) profitability.

Dabur CFO Lalit Malik says consumer sentiment is a down, and overall consumer demand (rural as well as urban) has slowed down in Q4. There is also marginal inflationary pressure. Thus, protecting operating profit margin could be difficult. This is because the subdued demand situation leaves little room to control promotional spends.

During the December quarter, for instance, while Dabur’s gross profit margin fell sharply by 228 basis points year-on-year to 49.3