New Delhi, April 2 Indian FMCG firm Marico announced on Thursday that its revenue in the March quarter of FY26 "grew in the low twenties year-on-year", driven by pricing, its hair oil products, and its international business.
During the quarter, the FMCG sector witnessed a "stable demand sentiment", but the macroeconomic impact of the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East is a key "factor to watch", Marico said in its quarterly update.
However, Marico remains optimistic about gradual improvements in consumption trends in the coming quarters, according to the makers of Saffola and Parachute in their Q4/FY26 update.
During the quarter, its Indian business sustained high single-digit underlying volume growth year-on-year; however, the sequential improvement was slight.
Marico's international business maintained its "strong performance" with growth in the high teens in constant currency terms.
"Each market contributed positively, apart from the Gulf region, which was impacted by ongoing geopolitical headwinds in March," said Marico.
Its consolidated revenue in the March quarter "grew in the low twenties" year-on-year, enabling it to "achieve our full-year target of mid-twenties growth", said Marico.
This performance was driven by top-quartile volume growth, a robust recovery in VAHO (value-added hair oils), strong equity and pricing power of core franchises, visible progress in profitable diversification, and strong momentum in the international business, the company said.
"With the building blocks of sustainable growth firmly in place, we remain confident in delivering healthy revenue growth in FY27," it said.
Key inputs, such as copra prices, corrected by 35 per cent from their peak and are expected to remain range-bound in the coming months.
While vegetable oils and crude-sensitive materials exhibit a pronounced upward bias, Marico will continue to "prudently exercise the pricing power" of its franchises to mitigate the impact, while ensuring the assured availability of crude-linked inputs.
"We expect a sequential improvement in gross margin, driven by easing copra prices," it said, adding, "we expect double-digit operating profit growth in this quarter, with a sequential improvement in growth".
Marico's Q4 update provides an overall summary of the operating performance and demand trends witnessed during the quarter ended March 2026.
"A detailed information update will follow once the board approves the financial results for Q3 FY26," it said.