Will keep investing to grow the household insecticides market – Godrej Consumer
Update on the Indian Equity Market:
On Monday, NIFTY closed 0.1% lower at 17,355. Top gainers in NIFTY50 were COALINDIA (+3.9%), HINDALCO (+3.3%), and KOTAKBANK (+1.7%). The top losers were RELIANCE (-2.3%), ICICIBANK (-1.8%), and SBILIFE (-0.9%). The top gaining sectors were MEDIA (+1.3%), METAL (+1.3%), and IT (+0.9%) while the top sectoral losers were BANK (-0.6%), PRIVATE BANK (-0.5%), and PSU BANK (-0.4%).
Will keep investing to grow the household insecticides market – Godrej Consumer
Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Sunil Kataria, CEO- India & SAARC at Godrej Consumer Products (GODREJCP), aired on CNBC TV18 on 9th September 2021:
- Input cost inflation has not slowed down against the expectation that the inflation would come down in the July-August period. Current inflation pressures may remain for another 6 months.
- Demand is holding steady currently. Rural demand was strong even in the 1st wave of covid-19. The positive thing now is that urban demand has also seen a sharp recovery.
- Discretionary demand has come back strong. Provided the festive season does not get disrupted and continued ramp-up of vaccination, further growth should be possible.
- GODREJCP is taking calibrated price increases in some products to mitigate the higher input cost prices. Further mitigation is being done via overhead cost control. GODREJCP has taken 7%-8% price hikes so far in FY22.
- Management expects to maintain EBITDA margins in the 25%-26% band. This operating performance will be delivered without compromising on ad spends. Ad spends are an important investment in brand building.
- The core business of soaps and household insecticides had strong tailwinds in FY21 and did not suffer due to the covid-19 disruption.
- Discretionary items like hair color and hair care faced a challenge in 1HFY21 but came back strongly in 2HFY21.
- Management expects both- core and discretionary categories to perform well going forward. Mr. Kataria expects overall double-digit growth across all categories.
- GODREJCP is seeing big momentum in personal wash and hygiene so increasing capacity additions there. But capex outlay is not an issue for a cash-rich FMCG business.
- Being the market leader in household insecticides, GODREJCP will undertake continued investments in increasing product portfolio and brand building in household insecticides.
Asset Multiplier comments:
- Consumer staples, as well as discretionary companies across board, have been taking price hikes to mitigate the impact of input cost pressure. However, all managements are taking a calibrated approach as demand is still a bit fragile in some product baskets due to the economic impact of lockdowns.
- How the rural demand shapes up from here remains to be seen as the covid-19 2nd wave has impacted rural India more than the 1st
Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener websites)
- The closing price of GODREJCP was ₹ 1,119/- as of 13-September-2021. It traded at 59x/51x/44x the consensus earnings estimate of ₹ 19.0/22.0/25.2 for FY22E/23E/24E respectively.
- The consensus price target is ₹ 1,058/- which trades at 42x the earnings estimate for FY24E of ₹ 25.2/-
Disclaimer: “The views expressed are for information purposes only. The information provided herein should not be considered as investment advice or research recommendation. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their own investment advisors to determine the merit, risks, and suitability of the information provided.”
