Godrej Consumer Products Ltd’s (GCPL’s) September quarter results are not spectacular on the revenue front to begin with. Nonetheless, there are some encouraging signs. For instance, the India business volume growth came in at 7%. This is an improvement from 5% in the June quarter. Prior to that, the measure stood at 1% for two quarters in a row.

The company said its September quarter volume growth was led by new product launches, effective marketing campaigns and consumer offers. Even as volume growth is better than some analysts’ estimates, not everyone is thrilled. “Higher consumer promotions led to a 6% decline in effective realizations for domestic business," says Nitin Gupta, analyst at SBICAP Securities Ltd.

Within the India business, GCPL’s household insecticides (HI) segment, which accounts for a big share of domestic revenue, reported higher than mid-single digit volume growth, resulting in a 4% value growth. On the other hand, soaps value growth declined by 4%. On the international business, GCPL’s Indonesia business performed well for the September quarter. “Africa had a mixed performance with weak sales growth and strong operating profits expansion. Growth was impacted by adverse macro-economic conditions in West Africa," said the company.