Consumer Durables: Extent of Recovery Margin is Key

Elongated winter in Q4FY19 pushed AC demand to Q1FY20. As a result, dealers across all regions clocked robust 30% plus Y-o-Y growth in April.

We conducted channel checks across north, central and western regions on cooling products in Q1FY20 with rising concern on the Street triggered by weak demand, aggravated by industry leaders’ poor Q4FY19. Key takeaways: a) strong 20-25% YoY AC growth in April and May has helped dealers make up for weak Q4FY19.

However, with monsoon showers in South/West regions in June, Q1FY20 revenue growth is likely to be 15- 18% YoY as per dealers inputs; b) while volume growth is comforting, margin pressure is likely to sustain, especially with AC brands resorting to aggressive schemes (given increasing competition); and c) robust sales in April had led to inventory stock out for most dealers.

However, it is currently back to normal level (40 days). We expect leaders in the mass- premium space to benefit from higher demand. However, extent of margin recovery remains key as brands resort to aggressive sales schemes.

Elongated winter in Q4FY19 pushed AC demand to Q1FY20. As a result, dealers across all regions clocked robust 30% plus Y-o-Y growth in April. However, May sales dipped due to Fani cyclone/rain impacting select parts of India. Last week of May/first week of June saw pick-up in demand with soaring temperatures. Thus, growth from April to till date has been 20-25% Y-o-Y.

Source: Financial Express

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