Colgate-Palmolive India posts Q3 profit jump on lower expenses, urban demand

Colgate-Palmolive (India)

22/01/2024 10:29

BENGALURU, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive (India)
 COLG.NS  reported a 35.7% jump in third-quarter profit on
Monday, aided by healthy urban demand and a fall in expenses.
    Net profit rose to 3.30 billion rupees ($39.7 million) for
the quarter ended Dec. 31 from 2.43 billion rupees a year
earlier.
    Sales of consumer goods makers have been boosted by urban
consumers with higher average income, even in the face of
elevated prices of essential goods.
    Total expenses fell 0.5%, helped by lower inventory and raw
material costs.
    The Indian arm of the U.S. consumer goods major reported an
8.2% increase in sales to 13.86 billion rupees, helped by its
core oral care category.
    The company also ran a campaign during the quarter that
reached over 300 million people in urban India, CEO Prabha
Narasimhan said in a statement.    
    Rival Hindustan Unilever  HLL.NS  posted a
smaller-than-expected increase in quarterly profit on Friday, as
competition intensified in the consumer goods sector and demand
in rural markets remained weak.
    Additionally, Dabur India  DABU.NS , set to report results
next week, said earlier this month that it expects mid- to
high-single-digit growth in consolidated revenue for the third
quarter, citing subdued pricing growth and disparity in demand
between rural and urban areas.
    Shares of Colgate-Palmolive rose 0.26% so far this year,
contrasting a 1.8% decline in the Nifty FMCG index  .NIFTYFMCG .


($1 = 83.1340 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Navamya Ganesh Acharya in
Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
 ((AshnaTeresa.Britto@thomsonreuters.com;))