Marico revenue rose 31% in Q2, margins narrowed — resurfacing a mid-November move to set direct reach target at 1.5m outlets

Marico’s Q2 revenue rose 30.7% YoY to ₹3,482 crore, while net profit slipped 0.7% to ₹420 crore as copra costs and brand investment weighed on margins. This resurfaces the FMCG major’s plan, disclosed around November 14, 2025, to expand direct distribution from 1 million outlets to 1.5 million by FY27.

— FiledWed, 2 Sept, 2026, 06:04 IST·First seen Wed, 2 Sept, 2026, 06:03 IST·Source Financial Express · BrandWagon

What happened

Marico reported marginally lower Q2 profit despite 31% revenue growth, as copra costs and brand investment compressed margins. India revenue rose nearly 35%; it

Key facts

  • Q2 net profit Rs 420 crore, down 0.7% YoY
  • Revenue Rs 3,482 crore, up 30.7% YoY
  • EBITDA Rs 560 crore, up 7.3% YoY
  • EBITDA margin 16.1% versus 19.6% a year earlier
  • India volume growth 7%
  • Domestic revenue Rs 2,667 crore, up nearly 35% YoY
  • Domestic market contributes 70-75% of revenue
  • Foods revenue up 12% YoY; Rs 1,100 crore annualised run rate
  • Digital-first portfolio exceeded Rs 1,000 crore annualised revenue
  • International revenue Rs 815 crore, up 19% YoY
  • Direct distribution to expand from 1 million outlets in FY24 to 1.5 million by FY27

Why this matters

Marico’s push from 1 million to 1.5 million directly served outlets by FY27 strengthens its route-to-market moat and could make distribution-led partnerships or bolt-on brands more strategically valuable.

What to watch

  • Copra price trajectory and management commentary on pass-through timing.
  • Volume growth versus price-led growth in Parachute and other core franchises.
  • Sequential EBITDA-margin movement and gross-margin recovery.
  • Net additions in direct-reach outlets and productivity per outlet.
  • Advertising, trade-spend and distribution-expense growth relative to revenue.
  • Competitive pricing and promotional activity in hair oil, foods and personal care.
  • Implement selective price increases and pack-price architecture changes in copra-linked portfolios.
  • Prioritize direct-distribution expansion in high-potential rural, semi-urban and general-trade clusters before FY27.
  • Increase premium, foods, digital-first and value-added personal-care mix to reduce dependence on commodity-sensitive core categories.
  • Use distributor and outlet-level data to improve replenishment, assortment and promotional ROI.
  • Tighten procurement, hedging and cost-control actions to limit further gross-margin erosion.