Emami Ltd

Emami, maker of famed brands like Zandu, BoroPlus, Mentho Plus Balm, Fair & Handsome and Navratna oil has done well for Q4Fy15 on the back of good sales. Its consolidated net profit for the quarter rose 24% (YoY) at Rs.138 crore and this was on a 24% rise in net sales at Rs.554 crore. EBITDA was up 20% at Rs.140 crore though margins declined from 26.33% to 25.27%. Costs were up 23%, with raw material costs rising 13% and advertising expenses jumped up by a huge 67%. Forex loss for the quarter stood at Rs.6.25 crore though all this was more than made-up by other income of Rs.30 crore. The company ended FY15 with a consolidated net profit Rs.486 crore, up 21%.

The company’s international business grew 48% during Q4 and domestic sales rose 20%. The company’s main raw material is mentha, accounting for over 25% of its cost. Though the prices have remained benign for some time, prices have started moving up since March’15 and MoM rise itself was around 10%. With mentha oil production expected to fall short of target, prices are expected to rise further. But for Emami this could be offset against a lower crude price and it stands to benefit from lower crude-linked derivative like packaging.