Indian FMCG major Marico on Wednesday said its sales growth was impacted by lower volumes in Saffola as it faced competition from unbranded and local brands.

“In the context of the fact that it was brought down by Saffola and the non-focused part of the coconut oil portfolio which competes a lot with unbranded and local brands. So I think yes, it was a tad lower than expected as far as the overall volume is concerned," Saugata Gupta, MD and CEO, Marico.

However, Gupta said all the new products launched by the company are doing well and as far as value-added hair oil is concerned, it should be able to inch it up towards the double digits over the next few quarters.

Marico on Tuesday reported 12.72 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 251.7 crore for the quarter ended December 2018. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 223.28 crore during October-December period of the previous fiscal.

Total income during the latest quarter stood at Rs 1,882.54 crore, up 14.61 percent from Rs 1,642.49 crore reported in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations grew 15 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,861 crore, with an underlying domestic volume growth of 5 percent and constant currency growth of 11 percent in international business.

“As far as FY19 is concerned, we will end the year with 8 percent and we have to definitely push that by another 1-2 percent next year,” Gupta added.