Colgate-Palmolive (India), on Tuesday, reported a 6 per cent decline in its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2012-13 at Rs.123.2 crore on an 18 per cent higher sales of Rs.811.6 crore.
During the quarter, the company achieved a volume growth of 12 per cent.
According to Gautam Sinha Roy, Vice-president-Equities, Motilal Oswal Securities, the company’s higher advertising spend is a reflection of increased activity on new launches/innovation front, while the toothpaste market is likely to see increased competition in the coming year. Better product mix and pricing led to gross margin expanding 40 basis points to 60.3 per cent. “However, the higher ad-spends (up 160 basis points) led to a 6 per cent net profit decline.’’
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For the whole of 2012-13 it reported a 11 per cent rise in net profit at Rs.496.7 crore on 18 per cent higher net sales of Rs.3,084.11 crore.
The total dividend for the year is Rs.28 per share (Rs.25 per share).
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