Oral care major Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd has reported 58 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 185 crore on the back of an exceptional gain in the first quarter of FY14.
The company earned Rs 59 crore from a slump sale of its Global Shared Services division to Colgate Global Business Services Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive and, hence, the numbers are not comparable.
The company in the year-ago period had posted a Rs 117-crore profit.
Despite the inflationary environment and pressure on the rupee, the focus on driving efficiencies and cutting costs resulted in higher gross margins, the company said in a statement.
Net sales rose 15 per cent at Rs 844 crore for the first quarter of financial 2013-14. The volume growth of nine per cent over the same quarter the previous year was led by the 11 per cent growth in the toothpaste category.
The company enhanced its leadership position by registering a 55.9 per cent volume market share for the January-June 2013 period.