P&G Hygiene & Health

May 28 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• PROCTER GAMBLE HYGIENE MARCH-QUARTER PROFIT 1.53 BILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER GAMBLE HYGIENE MARCH-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 9.41 BILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER GAMBLE HYGIENE - DIVIDEND OF 60 RUPEES PER SHARE

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE- APPOINTED SRIVIDYA SRINIVASAN AS CFO

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Jan 30 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE DEC-QUARTER PROFIT 3.01 BILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE DEC-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 12.62 BILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE- DECLARES DIVIDEND OF 195 RUPEES PER SHARE

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May 27 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE MARCH-QUARTER PROFIT 565.6 MILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE MARCH-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 9.92 BILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE - DIVIDEND OF 65 RUPEES PER SHARE

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Oct 30 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• SEPT-QUARTER PROFIT 2.12 BILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 11.35 BILLION RUPEES

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Aug 28 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE - DIVIDEND 95 RUPEES PER SHARE

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE JUNE-QUARTER PROFIT 810.6 MILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE JUNE-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 9.32 BILLION RUPEES

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May 28 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE LTD - PRASHANT BHATNAGAR, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER HAS TENDERED RESIGNATION

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE LTD - APPOINTED MRINALINI SRINIVASAN AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

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April 30 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• MARCH-QUARTER PROFIT 1.54 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 1.65 BILLION RUPEES

• MARCH-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 10.02 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 8.83 BILLION RUPEES

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By Bharath Rajeswaran

MUMBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - The yawning divide between the super-rich and middle-class in India's booming economy is set to persist, if the "underperformance" of consumer stocks in the raging stock market is anything to go by.

Stock prices of consumer firms selling soap, hair oil and refrigerators are seeing double-digit gains but are still lagging benchmark Indian stock indexes as low income growth and volatile inflation hurt demand for everyday goods. Meanwhile, luxury goods are flying off the shelves.

The macro trends bear that out. Asia's third-largest economy is set for a 7.6% expansion in the financial year ending this month, but private consumption, which contributes 60% of economic growth, is expected to grow at just 3% - the slowest in two decades, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years.

The wealth gap has widened. The wealth concentrated in the richest 1% of the world's most populous nation is at its highest in six decades, research group World Inequality Lab said.

"There is a drastic shift in household income from lower to higher middle class and from higher to upper class that is the driving engine for the growth in the premium segment," said Vineet Arora, managing director at Singapore-based NAV Capital, which manages 8 billion rupees ($95.95 million) in its Global Opportunities Fund.

The premium segment, comprising companies that sell cars, high-end electronics, expensive watches and jewellery, is seeing brisk business and soaring share prices. Tata group-owned Titan Company TITN.NS has seen its share price rise 44.3% over the past 12 months while luxury watch retailer Ethos ETHO.NS has gained 162%.

In contrast, the gauge of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms, the Nifty FMCG .NIFTYFMCG, has risen 18% over the past year, compared with the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI which is up 30% and near record highs.

Four of five fund managers that Reuters spoke to said they expect this relative underperformance to persist for another two or three quarters, till economic growth broadens.

"While the premium segment offers some growth potential, a broader sector revival relies on improved rural demand and government initiatives," Arora said.

Consumption in segments that cater to groups where income growth is weak has been tepid, said Sonam Udasi, senior fund manager at Tata Asset Management, which is underweight FMCG stocks in its India Consumer Fund.

Out of 90 FMCG categories tracked by market research firm Kantar, half either saw a drop or no change in consumption in 2023, it said in a report earlier this month.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) HLL.NS, the Indian arm of UK's Unilever ULVR.L, posted just a 0.6% increase in October-December quarterly profit while sales slipped as competition in the consumer goods space heated up and demand in rural regions remained low.

The stock has been among the worst performers in the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI and the worst performer in consumer index .NIFTYFMCG, down 8.4% over the past 12 months.

COST OF LIVING

Manjunath, 35, works at a dry cleaning shop in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, and has to support a family of five on his monthly income of 30,000 Indian rupees ($360).

Rising prices for staples such as vegetables and the popular 'surti kolam' rice, means he had to cut other spending.

"I had planned to buy a refrigerator before the summer. But I have not been able to save enough for that," he said.

But for consumers in a slightly higher income bracket, such as Ganesh Kumar, who works at a leading technology firm in Chennai and earns 120,000 rupees per month, big ticket purchases such as jewellery or family holidays have become affordable.

"After COVID and work-from-home, a lot of expenses have come down for people like us. Now I spend on comfort," he said.

In an index of consumer durables .NIFCODU, 10 of the 15 stocks, including refrigerator maker Voltas VOLT.NS and popular washing machine manufacturer WhirlpoolWHIR.NS, have underperformed benchmark indices in the current financial year.

Foreign investors have sold a net 31.35 billion rupees worth FMCG stocks in the last 12 months and 79.45 billion rupees of consumer durable stocks. They have, however, poured in 1.81 trillion rupees into Indian stocks over this period.

"The story of premiumisation is unfolding in the consumption space," said Nirali Bhansali, equity fund manager at SAMCO Mutual Fund, which is underweight both consumer staples and durables, and positive on stocks such as Ethos and Titan but worried they are too richly valued.

The FMCG index is trading at a decade-high 51 times 12-month forward earnings and the consumer durables index at 69 times. Fast rising stocks such as Titan and Ethos are above that, at 93 and 82 times, respectively.

The shift to premium brands is still in its infancy in India and will pick up further in the next decade as incomes increase, said Abhijit Bhave, managing director and CEO of Equirus Wealth, a wealth management firm with assets worth over $900 million under management.

"Evolving consumer preferences, changes in lifestyle patterns, and the increasing willingness of certain consumer segments to spend more on premium products despite economic uncertainties are leading to this transition."

EBITDA margins of consumer companies catering to mass demand are at 19%-32%, aided by moderating commodity prices and cost optimisation measures to offset the impact of tepid sales, while the margin growth of companies in premium segments like Titan and Ethos hover around 10%-20%, due to volatility in gold prices.

However, volume growth of companies in the premium segment is at 10%-16%, compared to sub-5% growth of companies in the mass segment, according to Aishvarya Dadheech, chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management.

($1 = 83.3512 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Kim Coghill)

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March 18 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• NAMES KUMAR VENKATASUBRAMANIAN AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

• L. V. VAIDYANATHAN WHO RESIGNS AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

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BENGALURU, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Indian consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care PROC.NS reported higher second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as lower costs countered a small drop in sales.

The company reported a profit of 2.29 billion rupees ($27.6 million) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up over 10% from the same period last year.

P&G Hygiene, which is known for products like "Whisper" sanitary pads and "Vicks" cold medications, said its total expenses fell nearly 3% to 8.41 billion rupees, helped by lower raw material and finance costs.

Cost of materials consumed, which includes ingredients like benzoic acid, parabens, and salicylic acid, fell 4.7%.

The company attributed the profit growth to its product price-mix and moderating cost inflation compared to the year-ago period.

India's average inflation for the three months ended Dec. 31 eased to 5.37% from 6.12% in the year-ago period.

However, the company said its sale of products slipped 0.3% to 11.31 billion rupees, owing to a "challenging operating environment".

The results come at a time when other consumer goods makers like Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS, Nestle India NEST.NS, and Britannia Industries BRIT.NS are grappling with consumers cutting back on spending.

Macroeconomic headwinds continued to put pressure on consumers' wallets, said analysts at Jefferies in a note.

Last week, the company's American parent Procter & Gamble PG.N beat second-quarter core profit estimates due to strong demand for daily-use products. However, it lowered its annual profit forecast for FY24.

Separately, P&G Hygiene declared an interim dividend of 160 rupees per share for the financial year 2023-24.

($1 = 83.0425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

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Oct 30 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• SEPT-QUARTER PROFIT 2.11 BILLION RUPEES

• SEPT-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 11.38 BILLION RUPEES

• YEAR AGO SEPT-QUARTER PROFIT 1.54 BILLION RUPEES, REVENUE 10.45 BILLION RUPEES

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Aug 28 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd PROC.NS:

• INDIA'S PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE LTD JUNE-QUARTER PROFIT 1.51 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 425.5 MILLION RUPEES

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE LTD - DIVIDEND 105 RUPEES PER SHARE

• PROCTER & GAMBLE HYGIENE AND HEALTH CARE LTD JUNE-QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 8.53 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 7.76 BILLION RUPEES

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BENGALURU, June 29 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble India said it would invest 20 billion rupees ($243.79 million) to set up a personal healthcare manufacturing facility in the western state of Gujarat.

The company will manufacture digestive products that are part of parent P&G's global healthcare product portfolio at the facility, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The facility will be operational in the next few years and become a global export hub for P&G, the Whisper sanitary napkin maker said.

The new facility spans 50,000 square meters in Sanand, Gujarat, and the investment is through an unlisted company and won't affect any listed public companies within the P&G group in India.

($1 = 82.0370 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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CHENNAI, May 10 (Reuters) - The consumption of consumer goods in rural India returned to growth after more than a year in the March quarter and is expected to grow for the rest of the year, market analytics firm NielsenIQ said, as inflation and price hikes eased.

The increase in product prices slowed to 6.9% from January to March, from 7.9% in the previous quarter, helping consumption in rural India increase 0.3%, after six quarters of decline, NielsenIQ said in a report on Wednesday.

Several Indian consumer goods makers, including Parachute hair oil manufacturer Marico MRCO.NS, Fortune cooking oil seller Adani Wilmar ADAW.NS and Dove soapmaker Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS have cut prices as commodity costs come off their highs.

"More than 2/3rd of India's population resides in rural areas," NielsenIQ Managing Director Satish Pillai said. "The upward trends seen in rural markets is particularly encouraging, and may be the turning point for the industry."

However, NielsenIQ said consumers have not fully returned to buying bigger packs, as consumers living paycheck to paycheck are increasingly buying smaller packs of consumer goods to save cash.

Consumption in urban areas was steady, rising 5.3% in the first three months of the year, bringing the overall volume growth to 3.1% for the period.

That, along with the price hikes and a demand rebound in mom-and-pop stores, helped boost the overall value of sales by 10.2% in the first quarter.

NielsenIQ expects the value of sales to rise 7%-9% for the whole of 2023, higher than the 8.4% increase in 2022, benefiting from likely timely monsoon as well as the central bank's expectations for the Indian economy to expand.

Consumer goods makers have, so far, reported mixed earnings for the March quarter: toothpaste maker Dabur India DABU.NS posted shrinking margins, while Pepsi-bottler Varun Beverages VARB.NS recorded profit growth.

Meanwhile, a Reuters poll of economists found India's consumer inflation likely cooled to an 18-month low in April as fuel prices moderated, potentially setting up consumer goods makers for sales gains in the April-June quarter.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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