Lower costs save the day for Colgate

Despite volume dip, cost rationalisation has aided net profit growth

On a lacklustre day of trade, the stock of Colgate Palmolive gained about 4.25 per cent to feature among the day’s top gainers on Thursday. The June quarter (Q1) results, which were in line with expectations, supported the stock gains. Net profit in Q1 grew by 8.6 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 136 crore, despite revenues slipping by 2.8 per cent y-o-y to Rs 1,110 crore. Lower revenues were mainly due to another quarter of decline in sales volumes. Q1 volumes were lower by five per cent y-o-y. But, analysts had anticipated a fall of 8–10 per cent due