Adani Wilmar is now India's largest FMCG company

Adani Wilmar, the consumer goods company of billionaire Gautam Adani, has topped the FMCG chair, dethroning HUL.

Adani Wilmar Consolidated revenue crossed the 50,000 mark and stood at ₹54,214 crore in 2022 compared to ₹37,090 crore in 2021, registering a growth of 46%.

While HUL has reported ₹51,468 crore sales in terms of yearly revenue in the financial year 2021-22.

Adani Wilmar, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises Ltd and Wilmar International Ltd, is the owner of the Fortune brand of edible oils.

Adani Wilmar Consolidated net profit stood at ₹804 crore in 2022 compared to ₹636 crore in 2021, registering a growth of 26%.

HUL's profit for the fiscal year from April 2021 to March 2022 increased by 10.9 per cent to ₹8,818 crore, up from ₹7,954 crore in the previous fiscal year.

What led to the surge?

Edible oil prices are skyrocketing due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and Adani Wilmar has made the most out of it.

Edible oils, which account for a substantial portion of AWL's income, contributed roughly 84 per cent to the company's top line and boosted sales for the year. Sales of edible oils increased 47.3 per cent year on year to ₹45,401 crore, up from ₹30,818 crore in FY2020-21.

The industry essentials sector, which accounts for approximately 11.4 per cent of total sales, increased 42 per cent to ₹6,191.5 crore from ₹4,366 crore.

Adani Wilmar’s branded edible oils market share in FY21 was 18.3% (Nielsen), putting it the dominant No. 1 edible oil brand in India. ‘Fortune’, the flagship brand, is the single largest edible oil brand in the nation with a market share of 22.8%, 8.3% and 24.9% in soybean, sunflower and rice bran oil.

Further, The company's primary strengths include a strong distribution network with 1.8 million outlets, a strong brand and market leadership, and an Integrated manufacturing facility that helps drive cost efficiencies across its different business lines, a well-entrenched promoter group, says Edelweiss.

The company has the largest distribution network among all branded edible oil players in India, with approximately 5,600 distributors across 28 states and 8 union territories throughout India, catering to over 1.8mn retail outlets.

Stock performance

The company's most recent earnings are the first since Adani Wilmar debuted on stock exchanges in February.

The listing of Adani Wilmar comes at a time when the group’s billionaire founder Gautam Adani overtook Reliance Industry’s Mukesh Ambani to become the richest Indian, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Since its inception at Rs230, the value of the stock has risen to almost Rs750.

Future plans

Adani Wilmar's future growth strategy is focusing on value-added products with the launch of edible oil products, rice bran health oil, fortified foods, ready-to-cook soya chunks, khichdi and more.

The company is looking to acquire food brands along with using the amount it raises via its IPO to expand its capacities in the food segment.