Colgate-Palmolive (India) has dipped over 3% to Rs 1,339 in noon deals after reporting 4% year-on-year (yoy) drop in net profit at Rs 111 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 (Q3) due to higher advertisement expenses. The company has for the first time in past five quarters reported negative growth in net profit.
The personal products maker has posted a 13.9% yoy growth in its topline to Rs 763 crore, which was lower than an average analyst estimates.
Analysts on an average had estimated profit of Rs 136 crore and operational income of Rs 794 crore from the company.
The company’s total expenditure grew 17% to Rs 645 crore, while advertising cost rose 45% to Rs 100 crore over the previous year quarter.
Meanwhile, the company said that it has achieved a volume growth of 9% during the nine month ended December 31, 2012 over the same period of the pervious year. The company had achieved a volume growth of 10% yoy during the first six month ended September 30, 2012.
The stock opened at Rs 1,360 and hit a low of Rs 1,334 on NSE. A combined 290,000 shares have changed hands on the counter so far on both the exchanges.
