Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited delivered a 10.4 percent year-on-year topline growth for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Net Sales increased to Rs. 1,480.7 crore from Rs. 1,341.7 crore. Domestic growth reported at 10.7% for the quarter. The Company maintained sequential growth momentum in Q4 FY24 on the back of strong performance in Toothpaste. Rural markets continued to exhibit positive signs of demand recovery, growing ahead of Urban.
Profitability: Net Profit after tax increased to Rs. 379.8 crore from Rs. 316.2 crore, a growth of 20.1% for the quarter. The Company continued to invest in brand building with an increase in advertising spend by 18% in the current quarter as compared to the previous year quarter.
FY24 Highlights
Net Sales: For the full year ended March 31, 2024, Net sales grew by 8.8% to Rs. 5,644.2 crore from Rs. 5,187.9 crore, a year ago. Led by double digit growth in the toothpaste category, the Company delivered domestic growth of 9.5%. Robust performance in FY24 was achieved through a successful execution of our strategic objectives, namely – growth acceleration in core portfolio, premiumisation through science based innovation, driving category growth in Toothbrush and building Personal care category.
Profitability: Topline growth was accompanied by a gross margin expansion of ~400 bps led by productivity linked savings and “Funding-the-Growth” initiatives. This enabled the Company to invest in science-led superior product enhancement and brand building activities. Net profit after tax for the full year grew by 26.4% year-on-year to Rs. 1,323.7 Crore from Rs. 1,047.1 Crore in the previous year.
Prabha Narasimhan, Managing Director & CEO of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited, said, “At the end of the last quarter of FY 24 we are pleased with the all-round progress we have made on our strategic priorities. We have doubled down on driving our mission of better oral health for everyone in India with renewed focus on Brushing at Night, including an innovative, communication tie up with IPL and further expanded our flagship in school Oral Health programme – Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® which reached 5.2 Mn Children in the year. We have also continued to invest in superior, science backed oral care formulations, upgrading the product & packaging quality of 100% of our core portfolio.
“In this quarter, our strong results of 10% top line growth and 20% profit growth have come on the back of continued commitment to strategic priorities. We have relaunched Colgate Active Salt with a more potent and efficacious formula and made our global no. 1 toothpaste Colgate Total available in an accessible 80g pack. This builds on the launch of Colgate Total Sensitive in the prior quarter and more variants from the global portfolio will follow in subsequent quarters. We also launched exotic, new variants in the Palmolive body wash portfolio with unique fragrances. From a geography lens, our rural business has grown faster than urban and we continue to see strong performance in Modern Trade and ECommerce platforms. Margin delivery has been driven by continued great execution on our world class Funding The Growth program and gains are consistently being reinvested to grow the business, she added.
“In the coming year, we are optimistic seeing the market recovery, the continued strengthening of our very strong brand and a robust innovation pipeline, starting with a first of its kind Tooth Whitening Booster under the Visible White Range. We stay committed to our mission of improving oral health in India, delivering competitive growth and strong bottom line performance,” she said.