India's Colgate-Palmolive quarterly profit declines on slowing urban demand

Colgate-Palmolive (India)

21/05/2025 14:18

May 21 (Reuters) - Colgate Palmolive India COLG.NS posted a drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, as sales slowed down on softening urban demand and intensified competition.

The toothpaste maker's net profit fell 6.5% to 3.55 billion Indian rupees ($41.51 million) in the quarter ended March 31.

Revenue from operations declined nearly 2% to 14.52 billion rupees. Expenses, meanwhile, were largely flat year-on-year.

For further earnings highlights, click here

KEY CONTEXT

The local arm of Colgate-Palmolive CL.N, known for its eponymous range of Colgate toothpastes, has been grappling with sluggish urban demand for its oral care products.

Consumer demand in rural regions has outpaced urban areas for more than a year now, helped by state-run support schemes and a strong harvest, while city-dwellers face slowing wage growth.

The company pointed to a "challenging operating environment" in the second half of fiscal 2025, which runs from April 2024 to March 2025. Its marketing and promotional expenses rose year-on-year in the fourth quarter, amid higher competition with other players.

Colgate expects a gradual recovery in market conditions in the second half of the year.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 months)
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Price/Sales
Revenue growth (%)
Profit growth (%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
Colgate-Palmolive (India)
COLG.NS
44.55
31.94
NULL
8.09
8.90
Hold
28
0.93
1.90
Godrej Consumer Products
GOCP.NS
53.08
36.92
8.25
9.32
22.59
Buy
33
0.93
1.59
Hindustan Unilever
HLL.NS
50.15
34.64
8.45
5.13
4.95
Buy
18
0.93
1.84
Dabur India
DABU.NS
40.80
31.91
6.28
7.71
10.10
Hold
39
0.92
1.16

* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JANUARY-MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 85.5270  Indian rupees

($1 = 85.5270 Indian rupees)

COLG Q4 https://tmsnrt.rs/4dxp38a

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Shailesh Kuber)

 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @MukherjeeHritam;))