Dabur India Limited — Q1 FY24
Dabur India reported a strong Q1 FY24 with consolidated revenue crossing INR 3,130 crore, up 11% YoY, driven by 13.3% constant currency growth.
bullish
high
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
88%Questions answered1Evaded / deflected12Questions auditedMixedNumbers vs filing
Answered
High priority
Is recovery due to inventory changes? Is 30% ad spend increase sustainable?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nomura Institutional Equities
Management directly addressed both parts with specific data and reasoning.
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Question
I want to understand on this recovery bit, is it because of the inventory levels changing from Q4 to Q1 in a meaningful manner? Second is, of course, 30% increase in the advertising also. Is it across categories?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
I think the recovery is in the market per se. It is not just Dabur recovery. Rural business across the board actually has recovered... Advertising, we had cut back last year... now inflation is kind of abated... we will be investing money back into advertising for surging demand.
Answered
High priority
Why target allopathic doctors now for health portfolio? Any learnings from Himalaya?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nomura Institutional Equities
Management explained the rationale, timing, and specific targets.
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Question
My question here is, why now? How easy is it to target the allopathic for Ayurvedic? Because both are very different. If it was so easy, why did you not try it earlier? Any other learnings?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
I think one major change is advocacy, and advocacy not to but also we are doing it to Ayurvedic, but also we've started allopathic also... INR 150 crore are incremental sales, and we put around 500 people feet on street...
Answered
High priority
What is Dabur's M&A strategy for D2C? Synergies between Badshah and Homemade?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nomura Institutional Equities
Management provided clear strategy and specific growth numbers.
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Question
Clearly, when I see Marico, HUL, ITC, et cetera, they have been quite more aggressive on the D2C front... Dabur obviously has done the Badshah acquisition. Wanted to understand on D2C acquisition, what is your thought process? Second, in terms of Badshah, what is the interplay between Badshah and Homemade?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
We are continuously scouting on targets for D2C also... Both Homemade and Badshah are doing well. Badshah has grown by 23%... Homemade brand is growing at around 33%-34%... We are cross-pollinating the portfolio...
Answered
Medium priority
Does oral care need to extend beyond naturals positioning to sustain growth?
Asked by Avi Mehta, Macquarie
Management directly answered and provided supporting data.
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Question
I wanted to kind of just understand the oral care positioning a little better. You know, do you see the need to extend beyond the naturals positioning to ensure that the growth divergence versus the industry sustained at the earlier highs?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
Not really. We want to stick to our core and our core capability. As far as oral care is concerned, I think natural is our core, and we will stick to the naturals portfolio... We've launched our Dabur Bae Fresh Gel...
Partial answer
High priority
Would you revisit FY24 margin guidance of 19%-19.5% given Q1 performance?
Asked by Avi Mehta, Macquarie
Management reaffirmed the band but did not commit to a specific number or revision.
no specific margin guidance revisiondeferred to media investment priority
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Question
Given the Q1 performance, where we've seen input cost kind of moderating, demand strength kind of reflecting in this margin performance, would you want to revisit your guidance for FY24 of 19%-19.5%?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
We keep a guidance of the same similar band. Till the time we cover up our media investments to a tune of around 8% to 9% of the overall business should be media for us. Till the time, money will keep going into media...
Answered
High priority
Comment on recent news about Dabur Honey purity?
Asked by Avi Mehta, Macquarie
Management directly addressed the controversy with a strong defense.
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Question
Just the last bit, Mohit, was on this recent news that came in about Dhani. If there's anything that you would like to comment on that, which is coming today.
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
We stand by the purity of Dabur Honey. Our every single batch of Dabur Honey is dispatched from a factory, it complies with all FSSAI parameters... This study... is definitely motivated to malign the image of the market leader.
Answered
High priority
Why is India gross margin flattish despite input cost deflation?
Asked by Arnab Mitra, Goldman Sachs
Management provided a specific number and explanation.
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Question
While your consolidated gross margin has moved up, what I was noticing is the India gross margin has been kind of flattish for the last three quarters, while we have seen input cost deflation... Is it something that is going to come in with a lag?
Ankush Jain, CFO
India gross margins have also improved by 80 bps in the quarter, year-on-year. And, you know, therefore, the benefits of deflation in Healthcare and HPC businesses are flowing on into business.
Answered
Medium priority
How do you see full year growth for beverages given Q1 impact?
Asked by Arnab Mitra, Goldman Sachs
Management gave a clear outlook despite uncertainty.
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Question
Just wanted to get a sense on how you see the full year now, because you do have a very high base for 2Q also. I think there's a timing with the festive season. How do you see the full year growth for beverages overall?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
Overall, beverages will be muted through the quarter because main season was damper. I don't know how the season will pan out to be next year going forward, but I think it will be muted for the full year, beverages.
Answered
Medium priority
Are international distribution issues fully resolved? Any restocking expected?
Asked by Arnab Mitra, Goldman Sachs
Management provided a clear timeline and outlook.
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Question
You had those distribution issues. Wanted to know, does this quarter fully reflect that the issues are behind and you've-- or, or there is some restocking that you would expect going ahead?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
International business, we've done the changes in distribution last year, and therefore, that got reflected in the Q1. Next quarter should be a full-blown quarter with the distribution changes getting ironed out.
Answered
Medium priority
What led to hair oil segment growth of 10% vs competitor flat?
Asked by Percy Panthaki, IIFL Securities
Management provided specific market share and growth drivers.
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Question
Just some comments from you on the hair oil segment. It's grown at 10% this quarter, and your other large competitor, basically has seen a flat kind of a number. Just wanted to understand what has led to this difference in performance.
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
We guys have grown by around 200 basis points, ever highest market share of 17.4 we've registered in hair oils. I think our Amla portfolio... execution in the market has been absolutely great by the team...
Evasive
High priority
Will you end the year at higher end of margin guidance?
Asked by Percy Panthaki, IIFL Securities
Management corrected the range but avoided a clear commitment on where they would land.
corrected the analyst on guidance rangedid not commit to higher enddeferred to next year
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Question
Do you think that you will sort of end the year at the higher end of your guidance of 19%-20%?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
No, I never gave a guidance of 19%-20%. Yeah, higher end of the guidance, yes. Definitely. I think it'll take us another year... We should remain in the band that we talked about earlier.
Answered
Medium priority
How should we look at healthcare growth in Q2 and Q3?
Asked by Shirish Pardeshi, Centrum
Management provided a clear growth range.
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Question
I think we have seen a base effect now playing out in the healthcare. Would you be a help, help us to give some thoughts how we should look at quarter two, quarter three onwards?
Mohit Malhotra, CEO
Healthcare should trend at a double-digit growth. A high single to a double-digit growth is what we should see in Healthcare going forward... Healthcare should give us a high single to a low double-digit growth for the full year.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural business grew 8% vs category 4% | 8% | 11% | Understated vs filing |
| Urban growth for us is around 10% | 10% | 11% | Matches filing |
| Foods portfolio grew by around 34% | 34% | 11% | Overstated vs filing |
| Badshah grew by 23% | 23% | 11% | Overstated vs filing |
| Homemade brand growing at 33%-34% | 33.5% | 11% | Overstated vs filing |
| Foods portfolio exiting at INR 450 crore, target INR 500 crore next year | ₹450 cr | ₹3,130 cr | Understated vs filing |
| Oral care volume growth roughly 8% | 8% | 11% | Understated vs filing |
| International business constant currency growth 20% | 20% | 11% | Overstated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.