April 2 (Reuters) - Indian consumer firm Marico on Thursday said it expects to clock double-digit year-on-year percentage growth in operating profit in the fourth-quarter, aided by stable consumer demand.
The maker of Saffola oils and Parachute haircare products said it has witnessed a gradual uptick in consumption across categories after several quarters of tepid demand from customers in urban areas, following reductions in goods and services tax in September.
Marico shares rose 2.5% after the news.
"We remain hopeful of a gradual improvement in consumption trends in the quarters ahead, while the macroeconomic impact of the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East is a key monitorable," the firm said.
The company expects consolidated revenue to grow in the range of low twenties for the fourth quarter ended March 31, with gross margins expected to improve sequentially, driven by lower prices of key raw material copra.
"We remain confident of delivering healthy volume-led revenue growth in FY27", the company said in a statement.
Saffola cooking oils and Parachute coconut hair oils, which together account for about half of Marico's India revenue, are expected to register high single-digit and low-single digit growth, respectively.
Marico also expects volume growth for Parachute hair oil to pick up over fiscal year 2027.
Underlying volume growth in the India business remained in the high single-digit, marking a slight improvement from a quarter ago, the company added.
"Each market contributed positively, apart from the Gulf region, which was impacted by ongoing geopolitical headwinds in March," the company said. The consumer goods maker operates in various countries internationally including South Africa and Bangladesh among others, besides home market India.
Marico reported a 20% rise in consolidated revenue to 27.30 billion rupees in the fourth quarter last year.
(Reporting by Komal Salecha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
