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Informist, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026

 

By Simran Rede

 

MUMBAI – The December quarter proved to be a decent one for consumer companies as demand improved slightly after the cut in the goods and services tax. The aggregate net profit growth of the 19 consumer companies that are part of the Nifty 200 index beat analysts' estimate for the sector by a wide margin, aided by a moderation in raw material prices. Their revenue growth was in line with the Street's expectations, supported by the cut in GST. 

 

The 19 consumer companies—including both durables makers and fast-moving consumer goods producers--also outperformed the broader Nifty 200 in terms of growth in adjusted net profit as well as revenue. Their revenue growth also surpassed that of the Nifty 50 companies.

 

Of the 19 companies, 13 beat analysts' expectations for aggregate adjusted net profit for the sector, while only seven exceeded estimates for revenue. The combined adjusted net profit of the 19 companies rose nearly 20% on year, marking the highest growth in 14 quarters.

 

This growth in the adjusted bottom line of these companies was significantly higher than the 11% on-year rise expected by analysts. However, the performance was not a uniform success story, but rather a dispersed one across outperformers and underperformers, and was heavily influenced by the impact of "GST 2.0" reforms and corporate restructuring. 

 

The combined revenues of these 19 companies rose almost 15% on year, lower than the 18% on-year rise in the corresponding quarter a year ago but higher than the 10.5% on-year growth in the trailing quarter. Although the aggregate top line of these companies rose for the 22nd consecutive quarter, the growth has remained trapped in the low double digits for the past two quarters, reflecting cautious consumer sentiment despite the festive season.

 

Growth in volume was in single digits for most FMCG companies, and this disappointed the Street. Of these 19 companies in the Nifty 200 index, four companies--Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Dabur India Ltd., and Marico Ltd.--reported single-digit growth in volume for the December quarter. While Varun Beverages Ltd. reported a 10.5% rise in its sales volume, United Spirits reported a 3.2?cline in volumes due to excise duty changes in Maharashtra. 

 

Analysts had believed that the cut in the GST would help the FMCG companies report double-digit volume growth for the December quarter. However, they were proved wrong as trade disruption in October weighed on growth and the rise in demand was only marginal. 

 

OUTLIERS

Titan Co. Ltd. was the primary driver behind the surge in net profit and revenue of consumer companies. If one was to exclude Titan, the adjusted net profit growth of the consumer firms would drop to nearly 17%, lower than the 20% growth when Titan is included. Similarly, the revenue growth would have been only a tad over 11% excluding Titan, lower than the 15% rise including Titan. The jewellery company reported an adjusted net profit of INR 16.08 billion, up over 62% on year, in the December quarter. This was higher than analysts' estimate of INR 15.43 billion. Its revenue rose 40% on year--the highest growth in 14 quarters--to INR 225.22 billion, almost in line with the Street's view of INR 224.97 billion. Titan accounted for almost 10% of the combined net profit and over 16% of the combined revenue of these 19 companies. Titan's adjusted net profit jumped on year, even after the INR 1.38 billion cost incurred due to the implementation of the new labour codes.

 

While the GST cuts provided relief to consumer companies to some extent, this was partially offset by the "sin tax" of 40% on items such as aerated drinks and tobacco. This continued to weigh on the growth of ITC Ltd., Varun Beverages, and United Spirits Ltd., with the latter also dealing with excise duty changes in Maharashtra.

 

The quarterly results of the 19 consumer companies in the Nifty 200 were also skewed by Hindustan Unilever demerging its ice-cream business. HUL reported a staggering 136% jump in its bottom line to INR 70.75 billion, but this was mainly due to a one-time exceptional gain of about INR 45.16 billion. This was accounted as a part of discontinued operations from the demerger of the ice cream business. Excluding this one-off, HUL's profit growth was around 13%. 

 

The numbers of another consumer giant, ITC, were also a drag on the performance of consumer companies of the Nifty 200. It reported a near-10?ll in net profit due to a one-time cost on account of the new labour codes. However, excluding this one-off, its adjusted net profit grew almost 10% on year. After excluding ITC, the adjusted net profit of 18 consumer companies rose over 25% on year, higher than the near 20% growth including ITC. Similarly, excluding ITC, the revenue of the 18 companies would have risen more than 16% compared to nearly 15% growth including ITC. 

 

Voltas stood out as the only major consumer company to report a decline in both net profit and revenue for the December quarter. This was the third quarter in a row that the company reported a double-digit on-year fall in the bottom line and missed analysts' estimate. 

 

The aggregate net profit margin for the consumer sector expanded to 14.86% from 12.72% a year ago. This was higher than the 11.90% aggregate net profit margin for Nifty 200 companies in the December quarter and the 12.49% margin in the year-ago quarter. The aggregate net profit margin of the consumer sector for the September quarter was 12.25%. 

 

Despite the higher cost on account of the new labour codes, consumer companies in the Nifty 200 universe managed to report slightly better-than-expected earnings for the December quarter. However, the boost from the cut in the GST was not as much as expected, according to analysts.

 

The following table shows the performance of the 19 consumer companies of the Nifty 200 vis-a-vis the consensus estimate for each company, as well as against the consensus estimate for the consumer sector and the Nifty 200 index:

 

Company	PAT beat analysts' estimate	Adjusted PAT growth %	Adjusted PAT growth estimate %	PAT beat sector estimate	PAT beat Nifty 200 estimate		Revenue beat analysts' estimate	Revenue growth %	Revenue growth estimate %	Revenue beat sector estimate	Revenue beat Nifty 200 estimate
FMCG, Jewellery, and Consumer Durables Sector		19.85	11.21					14.89	14.73
Nifty 200		16.31	9.84					10.07	7.28
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	YES	12.65	2.27	YES	YES		NO	4.35	6.67	NO	NO
ITC LTD.	YES	9.59	5.25	NO	NO		NO	5.65	8.49	NO	NO
NESTLE INDIA LTD.	YES	23.70	5.67	YES	YES		YES	18.56	10.40	YES	YES
TATA CONSUMER PRODUCTS LTD.	NO	42.95	43.58	YES	YES		YES	15.04	12.85	YES	YES
TITAN CO. LTD.	YES	62.42	55.84	YES	YES		YES	39.91	39.76	YES	YES
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD.	YES	25.24	15.29	YES	YES		NO	8.21	8.69	NO	YES
GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS LTD.	YES	16.84	16.45	YES	YES		NO	8.78	9.27	NO	YES
HAVELLS INDIA LTD.	NO	22.48	25.52	YES	YES		YES	14.15	10.22	NO	YES
UNITED SPIRITS LTD.	YES	0.19	(-)5.19	NO	NO		YES	7.31	5.79	NO	YES
VARUN BEVERAGES LTD.	NO	35.99	42.27	YES	YES		YES	13.98	8.20	NO	YES
BLUE STAR LTD.	YES	14.12	7.34	YES	YES		NO	4.20	8.87	NO	NO
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE (INDIA) LTD.	YES	2.93	(-)0.45	NO	NO		YES	1.66	1.20	NO	NO
DABUR INDIA LTD.	YES	10.08	6.98	NO	YES		YES	6.06	5.99	NO	NO
DIXON TECHNOLOGIES (INDIA) LTD.	YES	67.80	17.50	YES	YES		NO	2.08	8.32	NO	NO
GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD.	--	5.95	--	NO	NO		--	14.87	--	YES	YES
KALYAN JEWELLERS INDIA LTD.	YES	109.21	76.01	YES	YES		YES	42.12	36.68	YES	YES
MARICO LTD.	YES	12.03	11.55	YES	YES		NO	26.59	26.91	YES	YES
PATANJALI FOODS LTD.	YES	68.21	(-)7.40	YES	YES		YES	16.53	10.43	YES	YES
VOLTAS LTD.	YES	(-)15.66	(-)34.51	NO	NO		NO	(-)1.11	0.93	NO	NO

 

The following table shows the profit margins of the 19 consumer companies that are part of the Nifty 200:

 

Company	PAT margin for Oct-Dec '25	PAT margin for Oct-Dec '24	PAT margin for Jul-Sept'25
FMCG, Jewellery, and Consumer Durables Sector	14.86%	12.72%	12.25%
Nifty 200	11.90%	12.49%	14.95%
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD.	44.76%	19.81%	17.62%
ITC LTD.	28.24%	33.06%	28.74%
NESTLE INDIA LTD.	17.96%	14.56%	13.35%
TATA CONSUMER PRODUCTS LTD.	7.52%	6.28%	8.14%
TITAN CO. LTD.	6.53%	6.15%	6.08%
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD.	13.68%	12.67%	13.52%
GODREJ CONSUMER PRODUCTS LTD.	12.15%	13.22%	12.01%
HAVELLS INDIA LTD.	5.41%	5.79%	6.66%
UNITED SPIRITS LTD.	14.36%	13.78%	14.89%
VARUN BEVERAGES LTD.	5.99%	5.02%	15.14%
BLUE STAR LTD.	2.76%	4.72%	4.09%
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE (INDIA) LTD.	21.79%	22.08%	21.55%
DABUR INDIA LTD.	15.74%	15.57%	14.18%
DIXON TECHNOLOGIES (INDIA) LTD.	2.69%	1.64%	4.51%
GODFREY PHILLIPS INDIA LTD.	19.36%	20.90%	23.60%
KALYAN JEWELLERS INDIA LTD.	4.02%	3.01%	3.32%
MARICO LTD.	12.64%	14.28%	12.06%
PATANJALI FOODS LTD.	5.66%	4.12%	5.28%
VOLTAS LTD.	2.77%	4.26%	1.46%

 

(Note: Analyst estimates for each index group are derived from estimates for companies that are part of the index.)

 

End

 

Data compiled by Vinod Bhovad 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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