Brands
Dabur ad spends subdued in fiscal 2017
BENGALURU: Indian FMCG major Dabur India Limited (Dabur) had opened this fiscal with the lowest advertising and publicity expenses (ASP) in the first quarter (Q1-17, quarter ended 30 June 2016, previous quarter) in four years. The trend continued in the current quarter (Q2-17, quarter ended 30 September 2016, current quarter) with the company spending the least amount towards ASP during a 16-quarter period starting Q3-14 as Indiantelevision.com has been tracking the trend.
Dabur spent 9.8 percent less year on year (y-o-y) in the current quarter, and 24 per cent less quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) towards ASP. ASP in Q2-17 was Rs 149.41 crore (7.5 percent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) as compared to Rs 165.72 crore (8.5 percent of TIO) in Q2-16 and Rs 196.52 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.
In Q1-14, Q1-15, Q1-16, the company began the year with ASP of Rs 254.22 crore (15.4 percent of TIO), Rs 286.27 crore (15.3 percent of TIO) and Rs 330.61 crore (16 percent of TIO), respectively.
About 63 percent of Dabur’s revenues are from domestic FMCG sales, while 34 percent are international sales. Dabur’s domestic FMCG business reported growth of 2.4 percent driven by volume growth of 4.5 percent. International business declined by 2.3 percent basis IND AS (Indian Accounting System).
“The overall business environment continued to be challenging with consumer demand remaining slack in India, while overseas geographies like the Middle East and Africa hit by worsening geopolitical situation. We continue to invest behind our brands and are confident of our ability to report profitable growth, going forward. Even in a tough environment, we have navigated the external business environment well and our domestic FMCG business ended Q2 of 2016-17 with a volume growth of 4.5 percent,” Dabur CEO Sunil Duggal said.
“The medium to long-term prospects, particularly for India, remain robust and we are optimistic that domestic consumer demand would gain pace in months to come, riding on good Monsoons and a slew of government initiatives announced recently. We are confident that our focused strategy and positioning as the ‘Science-based Ayurveda’ specialist will pave the way for future growth. We have lined up a flurry of many exciting initiatives and are committed to aggressively launch new products leveraging on our Ayurvedic heritage and cutting edge science,” Duggal added.
Trends
The company’s ASP in Q3-2016 at Rs 350.01 crore (16.5 per cent of TIO) was the highest in terms of actual rupee spends as well as in terms of percentage of TIO during the sixteen quarter period under consideration in this report. As mentioned above, in the previous fiscal, in Q1-2016, the company had spent Rs 330.61 crore (16 percent of TIO) towards ASP, which is the second highest ASP in absolute rupees and in terms of percentage of TIO during the period under consideration.
Also, over the 16 quarter period under consideration, Dabur’s ASP in absolute rupees and ASP in terms of percentage of TIO both show a linear declining trend. Please refer to Fig1 above which indicates that ASP in terms of percentage of TIO follows a linearly declining zigzag line, with peaks in Q1 (school holiday period) and Q3 (festival season in the country) and valleys in Q2 and Q4 of a financial year. This fiscal, for a change, Q1-7 ASP was lower than spends in Q4-16.
The company says in its earnings release that it braved strong headwinds in the form of a persistent listless demand environment in key consumer products categories and geopolitical disturbances in the overseas markets during Q2-17.It says that its continued focus on leveraging the science-based Ayurveda heritage, coupled with commodity tailwinds, helped Dabur end Q2-17 with a 1 percent growth in consolidated revenue at Rs 1,975.7 crore as compared to consolidated revenue for Q2-16 which stood at Rs 1,955.3 crore. Consolidated net Profit for the Q2-17 marked a 5 percent growth at Rs 357.3 crore, up from Rs 340.2 crore during corresponding year ago quarter.
Dabur’s products
Among the products that Dabur has include health supplements like Chyawanprash, Ratnaprash, Honey, Glucose; digestives like Hamjola – Hajmola Chuzkara and Natkhat Amrud, Pudin Hara Fizz; OTC and Ethicals such as Lal Tail, Honitus Syrup; Haircare products like Vatika, Vatika Brave and Beautiful digital, Anmol Jasmine Marks; Toothpaste brands like Dabur Red, Babool and Meswak; skincare products like Fem Natural Fairness, Gold Bleach, Gulabari; Homecare brands such as Odomos, Odonil and Sanifresh; Food brands such as Real and Real Active.
Notes:
(1.0) Dabur has started reporting its numbers as per the Indian Accounting System (IND AS) since Q1-17 and hence the numbers in the charts may not be accurate – this report and the charts are meant as an approximate representation of the company’s numbers.
(1.1) All numbers are consolidated unless stated above.
(2.0) The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.
Brands
73 million urban Indians overweight, just 4.99 per cent aware of GLP-1: Kantar report
South India leads in risk as treatment literacy struggles to keep pace
NATIONAL: Urban India is edging towards what researchers call a metabolic inflection point. Sedentary work, richer diets and stress-heavy lives are swelling the ranks of the overweight and diabetic, forcing a rethink of healthcare priorities.
Ahead of World Obesity Day, Kantar India released its GLP-1 Opportunity Index Report, mapping the scale of the crisis and probing awareness of GLP-1 therapies, a fast-rising class of drugs used globally to manage diabetes and cut weight.
The numbers are stark. Roughly 20 per cent, or 73 million, of urban Indians aged 15 and above are overweight or obese. An estimated 101 million Indians live with diabetes, while another 136 million hover at pre-diabetic risk. Urban prevalence stands at 14.2 per cent, far above rural India’s 8.3 per cent.
Yet treatment literacy lags. Although 85 per cent of overweight individuals say they are trying to lose weight, just 4.99 per cent of urban Indians are aware of GLP-1 therapies.
Where awareness exists, intent follows. Among diabetics who know of GLP-1 drugs, 49.2 per cent say they are likely to use them. Some 44.1 per cent favour weekly dosage formats, signalling appetite for convenience-led care.
The burden is not evenly spread. Gen X accounts for 40 per cent of the overweight base and 73 per cent of urban diabetes cases, making mid-life Indians the epicentre of the crisis. Affluent NCCS A households , 40 per cent of the urban population, represent 46 per cent of the overweight segment. Within this group, 36 per cent report having experienced diabetes in the past year.
Geography sharpens the divide. South India makes up 36 per cent of the overweight population and 43 per cent of urban diabetes cases. Kerala and Telangana lead in penetration, a pattern the report links to rapid urbanisation, sedentary jobs and lifestyle shifts.
Kantar director specialist businesses, South Asia Puneet Avasthi, called the obesity-diabetes spiral one of the decade’s most consequential healthcare turning points. The commercial opportunity for GLP-1 therapies, he said, is sizeable, but will hinge on education and speed.
Kantar associate vice president, specialist businesses, South Asia Soumajit Dey said the study quantifies the yawning gap between disease burden and treatment awareness, offering sharper cues for regional and demographic targeting.
The media prescription is equally pointed. Television, with 79 per cent reach among high-risk, mid-life audiences, should serve as the anchor medium, the report argues, backed by digital, print, radio and outdoor to push reach towards 95 per cent and sustain engagement.
As global fervour around next-generation metabolic drugs intensifies, India looks less like a late entrant and more like an under-informed giant. For pharma and healthcare brands, the window to define leadership in the GLP-1 race may be narrow and lucrative.
