One-time gain boosts GCPL’s Q4 net profit

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), the maker of Cinthol toilet soap and Goodknight mosquito repellant, reported a 59.2 % growth in net profit for the quarter ending March 31, beating the Bloomberg consensus estimate, as a one-time gain boosted its bottom line.

The company recorded a net profit of Rs 617.19 crore, as against Rs 387.58 crore last year, largely due to an exceptional income of Rs 194.99 crore on account of an earn-out liability of a subsidiary. The increase in net profit without considering this one-time gain was 12%.

The company recorded a modest increase in quarterly revenue, to Rs 2,528.89 crore from Rs 2,489.49 crore recorded in the same period last year as it saw single-digit sales growth in the Indian and international markets. GCPL gets nearly half its total sales from the international markets that include Africa and Indonesia.

In India, the company recorded a healthy 19% sales growth of its soap products in the quarter, but household insecticides recorded a decline of 5%. The total sales growth, thus, stood at 7%.

The company said its international sales grew 6% year-on-year, although the performance In Indonesia was affected by inventory reduction by a few retail partners.

“The performance in our international portfolio was relatively muted due to the weakness in Indonesia and Africa. However, we expect to see a strong turnaround in growth rates in the fiscal year 2019,” said Nisaba Godrej, executive chairman, GCPL. Godrej is on Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women 2017 list.

GCPL’s shares were trading 2% higher at Rs 1,123.05 on Bombay Stock Exchange at closure on Tuesday.