The fall in profitability was due to lower advertising and promotion investments on brand building in the base period due to the pandemic and commodity cost inflation.

The company delivered sales of Rs 1,093 crore, up 7% vs year ago behind the strength of its trusted product portfolio and strong retail execution.

For the quarter, both Feminine Care and Health Care businesses grew ahead of their categories, the company said.

Madhusudan Gopalan, managing director, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care, said, “In a challenging market environment, we have delivered strong sales growth behind strong brand fundamentals and improved market execution. As the industry faces commodity inflation challenges, we continue to focus on improving productivity by leveraging advertising and promotion analytics, strengthening our product mix and driving supply chain efficiency to drive balanced top and bottom-line growth.”

The board of directors has declared an interim dividend of Rs 95 on every equity share of Rs 10. The record date for the dividend will be 9 February 2022.

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (PGHHCL) is an FMCG company that has in its portfolio Whisper, Vicks and Old Spice.

The scrip advanced 0.29% to currently trade at Rs 15265.80 on the BSE.