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The top executives of several global consumer-facing corporations in their recent quarterly earnings calls indicated short-term pressure on sales of daily essentials and mass-priced products in India, even as demand remained strong for premium and discretionary products. The management commentary from companies such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Pernod Ricard, Skechers and Whirlpool also underlined this contrasting purchasing trends in India's consumption sector over the past few quarters. 114633130“In India, volume decline in states impacted by higher-than-normal monsoon. In geographic areas that were unaffected, volume grew in mid-single digits,” CocaCola chairman and chief executive James Quincey said during the Atlanta, US-based beverages maker’s quarterly earnings call. But he expects this to be a temporary factor, and the company to return to growth as “heavy monsoons tend to be a good predictor of agricultural yield, which would be better next year”. In India where about half the population is engaged in agriculture and related activities, farm output is a key factor in driving consumption. The seasonal disruption that Quincey highlighted comes amid slowing demand for groceries, home care and personal products. Unilever, which counts India as its second biggest market behind the US, posted tepid 3% volume growth and a flat revenue expansion in its India business in the quarter ended September 30. For Pernod Ricard, sales growth in India slowed to 2% due to weak demand for products in its lowest price points, but the French distiller that sells brands like Absolut Vodka said it expects to fully revert to double-digit growth in the next quarter. Premium brands in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, meanwhile, have been growing about twice the speed of their non-premium counterparts in India. Similar trends are observed in the tech and durables sector as well, driven by increasing income levels, urbanisation, smartphone penetration and a more aspirational consumer base.Whirlpool said it continues to invest in India, a part of the world where the home appliances company wants to grow. “India is very strong, we picked up, and we feel very good about market share, in particular premium small domestic appliances,” said Whirlpool Corp chairman and CEO Marc Robert Bitzer. While shoe maker Skechers said its sales in India grew 24% and that the country is an incredibly important strategic priority for the company, AO Smith Corp saw India sales increase 12%. Even with FMCG, companies skewed towards premium products performed well. “Some of our larger markets, particularly Brazil, India and Mexico continue to perform very, very strongly. And if you look long-term strategically, this is where the growth is going to come from,” Noel Wallace, president and CEO of Colgate-Palmolive Co, told investors. “There continues to be per cap opportunities, premiumisation opportunities in those markets, which we think we are executing very well.”A report released on Friday by market research firm NielsenIQ indicated that products with premium features were seeing 50% growth in India, with consumers increasingly seeking out items that promise convenience and improved lifestyle quality. As much as 41% of urban Indian consumers are willing to pay more for tech products that simplify their lives, it said.

IDFC First Bank reported a 73% drop in its September quarter standalone net profit at Rs 201 crore versus Rs 751 crore reported by it in the year ago period. However, the Net Interest Income (NII) grew 21% to Rs 4,788 crore in Q2FY25 versus Rs 3,950 crore in the year ago period.The earnings were impacted by what the company referred to as "prudent provisions" of Rs 568 crore including Rs 315 crore in MFI business (stress in MFI industry) and Rs 253 crore in one Maharashtra based toll account.Deposits & borrowingsIDFC First Bank's customer deposits increased by 32.4% YoY from Rs 1,64,726 crore as of September 30, 2023 to Rs 2,18,026 crore as of September 30, 2024.The retail deposits grew by 37.4% YoY from Rs 1,27,595 crore as of September 30, 2023 to Rs 1,75,300 crore as of September 30, 2024.The CASA deposits grew by 37.5% YoY from Rs 79,468 crore as of September 30, 2023 to Rs. 1,09,292 crore as of September 30, 2024.The CASA Ratio stood at 48.9% as of September 30, 2024. The retail deposits constitutes 80.4% of total customer deposits as of September 30, 2024. The cost of funds for the bank was 6.46% in Q2-FY25, which improved marginally from last quarter. Excluding the high-cost legacy borrowings, the cost of funds was 6.37% in Q2-FY25.Loans & advancesThe loans & advances including credit substitutes increased by 21.5% YoY from Rs 1,83,236 crore as of September 30, 2023 to Rs 2,22,613 crore as of September 30, 2024. The retail book of the bank grew by 25% YoY while the corporate (non-infrastructure) loans grew by 20% YoY during the quarter.The bank’s legacy infrastructure book reduced by 21% YoY to Rs 2,654 crore as of September 30, 2024, 1.2% of the total funded assets of the bank.Microfinance portfolio as percentage of overall loan book reduced from 6.3% in June-2024 to 5.6% in Sep-2024.Assets QualityGross NPA was reported at 1.92% as of September 30, 2024, against 2.11% as of September 30, 2023. Meanwhile, net NPA stood at 0.48% as of September 30, 2024, against 0.68% as of September 30, 2023.PCR of the bank increased to 75.27% as of September 30, 2024 from 68.18% as of September 30, 2023 and 69.38% as of June 30, 2024.Fee and other income grew by 18% YoY from Rs 1,376 crore in Q2FY24 to Rs 1,622 crore in Q2 FY25. The operating income grew 21% from Rs 5,380 crore in Q2FY24 to Rs 6,515 crore in Q2 FY25. Operating expense grew by 18% YoY from Rs 3,870 crore in Q2 FY24 to Rs 4,553 crore in Q2 FY25.Capital Position• The bank successfully raised Rs. 3,200 crore of fresh equity capital from marquee domestic institutional investors in July 2024.• The bank also successfully completed merger with IDFC Ltd in October 2024 through which Rs 618 crore of capital have been added to the net-worth whereas the outstanding share count has reduced by 16.64 crore shares.• Including profits for Q2-FY25 and post the impact of merger as mentioned above, total CRAR as on September 30, 2024 would have been 16.60% with CET-1 ratio of 14.08%.Commenting on the earnings, V Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO said that comany's core drivers remain strong while the brand, technology and high service levels are enabling strong growth in deposits. "Ability to grow deposits is a key strategic strength of the Bank. Deposits grew healthily at 32% YoY. Our overall Loan growth is stable at 21.5% on YoY basis. We saw impact on microfinance business as is seen in rest of industry. Since January 2024, the MFI disbursals are insured with CGFMU. 50% of the book is now insured and expected to reach 75% by end March 2025," Vaidyanathan said."We have created additional provisioning buffer of Rs 315 crore for microfinance segment as a prudent measure. Bank has taken additional provision of Rs 253 crore for one toll road related to Mumbai’s entry point which was affected because of the State government waiving toll on LMV. Bank will recognize this back as profits depending on toll collections and the government’s compensation to the client," he said, further."Our core operating performance is strong, we are confident to revive our profitability going forward,” the MD & CEO opined.