Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) fell 2.69% to Rs 624.75 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 642.03 crore in Q3 FY21.

Among its segments, Home Care saw a steady growth of 4% Y-o-Y (year-on-year). While Godrej Consumer Products delivered a soft performance in household insecticides, the company continued to deepen penetration and gain market share. Goodknight Jumbo Fast Card scaled up well, driving growth in burning formats.

Godrej Consumer Products continued to build on its strategic pivots of taking the category beyond mosquitoes and scaling up the personal repellents portfolio. Air Fresheners continued to witness steady growth, led by gradual recovery in the category. Aer Power Pocket continued to perform well alongside driving new trials. Fabric Care witnessed strong growth.

The Personal Care rose by 12% Y-o-Y. Personal Wash & Hygiene maintained its growth momentum, delivering double-digit sales growth. The firm continued to gain market share, led by micro-marketing initiatives to fuel growth. Godrej Consumer Products continue to navigate high input cost through calibrated price increases.

Hair Colours growth was relatively soft, while the company continued to gain market share. Godrej Expert Rich Crème continues to perform well, backed by strong marketing campaigns. Godrej Expert Easy 5 Minute Shampoo Hair Colour scaled up well.

Overseas, Indonesia business delivered a soft performance with a sales decline of 2% in constant currency terms. Sales excluding Hygiene (Saniter) saw a growth of 2% in constant currency terms. EBITDA margins contracted by 410 bps year-on-year because of increase in input cost, lag in end-consumer pricing, and adverse mix due to low hygiene saliency.

The Africa, USA and Middle East cluster delivered a broad based double-digit sales growth of 12% in constant currency terms (2-year CAGR 14%). Our strong sales growth momentum continues in Southern Africa and West Africa. The company also witnessed a strong performance across categories and continued seeding go-to-market initiatives in key markets. EBITDA margins increased by 60 bps year-on-year, driven by scale leverage and cost-saving initiatives.

On a standalone basis, net profit grew 8.14% to Rs 380 crore on a 7.23% rise in net sales to Rs 1,817.43 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020. Volume growth remained flat while Q3 FY22 EBITDA declined by 3% Y-o-Y to Rs 450 crore.

Commenting on the Q3 FY22 business performance, Sudhir Sitapati, the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), GCPL, said, "We delivered a mixed performance in Q3 FY2022. While overall sales grew by 8%, and we remain on track to achieve double-digit sales growth for the full year, it was driven entirely by price led growth. We believe that with the relatively non-discretionary, mass pricing of our portfolio and very good performance on market shares, volume growth will return in the medium term. On the other hand, while our overall EBITDA de-grew by 2% and PAT declined by 1%, the quality of profits has improved. We have witnessed sequential expansion of consolidated gross margins of 70 bps and higher Advertisement & Publicity spends of 90 bps."

"We saw steady sales growth in the Home Care and Personal Care categories, of 3% and 12%, respectively. From a geography perspective, India grew at 8%. Our Africa, USA and Middle East business continued its robust growth trajectory, growing at 13% in INR and 12% in constant currency terms. Our Indonesian business saw flat growth in INR, and declined by 2% in constant currency terms."

"We continue to have a healthy balance sheet and our net debt to equity ratio continues to come down. We are on a journey to reduce inventory and wasted cost and deploy this to drive profitable and sustainable volume growth across our portfolio through category development. As always, our values matter the most at this time. We were recently ranked number 1 among the top 100 companies in India, for sustainability and CSR initiatives in 2021. This ranking is based on a survey conducted by Futurescape and published by The CSR Journal. We remain committed to doing our best to truly live The Godrej Way and serving our people and communities," Mr Sitapati signed off.

Shares of Godrej Consumer Products lost 0.09% to Rs 888.55 on BSE. Godrej Consumer Products is an Indian consumer goods company. The company's products include soap, hair colourants, toiletries and liquid detergents.