Godrej likely to raise its soaps prices

Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) is likely to raise the prices of its soaps as raw material costs have risen, a top company official said.

"Prices of raw materials for soaps have increased and so we are likely to up our soap prices," GCPL's Chairman Adi Godrej told PTI here.

He, however, did not specify the time-frame by when this would be done nor the percentage of the hike, saying "we are yet to decide on this."

The company had, in early-January, raised prices of its soaps by 3-5 per cent. It had also raised the prices of its hair colour by 10 per cent around three months ago.

The Adi Godrej-led company has reported an 89 per cent jump in its Q3 FY 11 consolidated net sales at Rs 980 crore and a 40 per cent rise in its PAT at Rs 119 crore.

"Our international acquisitions have started kicking-in and nearly 35 per cent of our sales has come in from overseas," Godrej said.

Godrej Household Products and our Indonesian operations have done especially well, he said.

The former would be legally merged with GCPL by end-this fiscal, he said, adding this would provide benefits of integration, economics, managerial bandwidth and cost-savings.

On the outlook for Q4, Godrej said that it should be "even better" than Q3.

"The momentum is very strong and I don't see any major areas of worry. The economy is doing well and hence I am confident of a good showing from GCPL," Godrej said.