India's P&G Hygiene and Health Care posts drop in Q3 sales on muted demand

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care

10/05/2023 15:36

BENGALURU, May 10 (Reuters) - 
    India's Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd
 PROC.NS  reported a dip in quarterly sales on Wednesday, as a
pandemic-driven demand for healthcare products waned with new
COVID cases dropping across the country.
  
    The company said sale of its products, ranging from Vicks
inhaler to Whisper sanitary napkin, fell about 1% to 8.81
billion rupees ($107.73 million) in the January-March quarter.
        Sales surge in the comparable quarter a year earlier was
Omicron-driven, the company 
    said
     in an exchange filing, as it benefited from demand for its
healthcare products, including Vicks VapoRub and throat drops,
when cases were rising.
    The World Health Organization last week ended the global
emergency status for COVID-19 more than three years after its
original declaration.
    It was not clear how much of the company's revenue came from
its healthcare products.
    Elevated inflation has also been a dampener on consumer
demand during the quarter, as India's annual retail inflation
spiked in January, before easing in the next two months, albeit
at relatively elevated levels.
    P&G Hygiene and Health Care said its performance was
"resilient" despite a "challenging operating environment".
    Its profit rose to 1.65 billion rupees from 1.03 billion
rupees a year earlier. It benefited from a gain of 575 million
rupees on account of certain tax adjustments.
    The company's shares have fallen about 6% so far this year.
    Meanwhile, consumer goods and health supplements maker Dabur
India Ltd  DABU.NS  saw its quarterly margins squeezed by
discounts and higher material costs.

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini
Goswami)
 ((Dimpal.Gulwani@thomsonreuters.com;))