To counter that, Dabur said it offered customers "promotions" to soften the impact on consumer spending. The discounts, coupled with an almost 10% increase in material costs led to consolidated operating profit margin - a key earnings metric - slipping to 15.3% for the quarter ended March 31 from 18% a year earlier. "We expect inflationary pressure to remain in the near term which will lead to delay in margin recovery," Prabhudas Lilladher analyst Amnish Aggarwal said in a client note. Dabur shares closed 1.4% lower, taking their declines to nearly 6% this year. CEO Mohit Malhotra said there are "near-term concerns around inflationary pressures" even as the Hajmola maker aims to invest in its brands and new launches. However, demand from more well-off urban consumers helped Dabur's revenue from operations rise 6% to 26.78 billion rupees. It benefited from a 10% growth in its homecare branch, which makes air fresheners and floor cleaners, and a 22% jump in its foods business.