Investors should await clarity as Colgate reels under competitive pressure

While topline grew by 8% and net profit by 11% in Q2, margin expansion was muted despite benign input costs

Oral care major Colgate-Palmolive India's (Colgate's) September 2018 quarter (Q2) numbers may be in line with the Street's expectations but it shows that the company still reels under stiff competition.  

While net sales rose 7.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11.6 billion, led by a seven per cent increase in volumes, net profit grew 10.6 per cent to Rs 2 billion, almost at par with Bloomberg consensus estimates. The positive surprise was volume growth, which was better-than-expectations of a four-five per cent growth. However, it was partly supported by the low base of last year when volumes had contracted