Cost saving initiatives as well as buying efficiencies mitigated the impact of escalating costs. These savings, together with selective price increases improved gross margin. A significant part of this margin increase was redeployed in supporting the brands for driving sales growth. Consequently, advertisement and promotion spend for the quarter was 20.5% higher. Profit before interest and tax (PBIT) increased 22% and PBIT margin for the quarter at 13.6% of sales, improved 140 bps over JQ
