(Reuters) -Colgate Palmolive India reported a decline in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as feeble urban demand and intensified competition in its core oral care business weighed on sales.
The toothpaste maker’s net profit fell 12% to 3.21 billion rupees ($37.20 million) in the quarter ended June 30.
Revenue from operations for the toothpaste-to-shower gels maker dropped 4.4% to 14.21 billion rupees.
For further results highlights, click here.
KEY CONTEXT
The local arm of Colgate-Palmolive, known for its eponymous range of Colgate toothpastes, has said in a prior call with analysts that weak urban demand was causing consumers to use staples such as toothpaste for longer, impacting overall volumes.
The company’s results in the current reporting quarter reflect subdued urban demand and elevated competition with local players, it said in a statement.
Colgate has been sharpening its focus on differentiated offerings that promise higher quality oral benefits to tackle these challenges, leading with a more premium portfolio.
Colgate-Palmolive India’s peers are yet to report quarterly results.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBI Price/ Revenue Profit Mean No. of Stock to Div
TDA Sales growth (%) growth (%) rating* analyst price yield
s target** (%)
Colgate-Palmolive 41.97 29.70 NULL 7.02 5.49 Hold 30 0.92 2.13
(India)
Godrej Consumer 51.46 35.82 8.00 9.46 21.30 Buy 34 0.92 1.60
Products
Hindustan Unilever 52.37 36.60 8.84 5.37 6.25 Buy 19 0.99 1.73
Dabur India 45.94 34.72 6.80 7.88 10.20 Hold 39 1.01 1.53
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG
— $1 = 86.2960 Indian rupees
(Reporting by Manvi Pant and Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)
