P&G net down 11% in March quarter, sales up 14%

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Healthcare reported a 10.8 per cent drop in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, to Rs 39 crore as against Rs 43.7 crore a year ago. Net sales, on the other hand, grew 14.35 per cent during the quarter to Rs 234.4 crore versus Rs 205 crore a year ago.

The drop in net profit was on account of a two-fold increase in the consumption of raw and packing material for the quarter under review. It touched Rs 95 crore versus Rs 46.7 crore a year before.

Advertising & sales promotion expenditure for the quarter was lower at Rs 38 crore versus Rs 44.1 crore reported a year before. Even royalty expenses were lower for the period under review at Rs 7 crore versus Rs 12 crore reported a year earlier.

But miscellaneous expenditure increased 27.7 per cent to Rs 44 crore versus Rs 34.4 crore reported a year before.

As a result of both input costs and allied expenditure, the company's total expenditure increased 17 per cent to Rs 194.2 crore versus Rs 166.1 crore a year ago.

Earnings per share was down for the quarter at Rs 11.99 versus Rs 13.45 reported a year before.

The stock of the company was trading up 1.1 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. It opened at Rs 1,963.65, touching a high of Rs 2,020 to finally settle at Rs 2,010 per share. The results were declared after market hours.