Procter & Gamble (P&G) Hygiene and Health Care on Thursday reported a 5% year-on-year increase in its net profit to Rs 103 crore for the quarter ended March 31, driven by continued focus on productivity. However, the profit was impacted by a retrospective tax law change; excluding this one-time impact, the net profit was up 20% despite high commodity inflation.

The company reported net sales of Rs 973 crore, up 28% y-o-y, which was boosted by a one-time other income during the quarter from inter-company sale of inventory. Excluding the one-time income, comparable sales are up 17% y-o-y. Strong brand fundamentals, strength of product portfolio and strong retail execution aided sales growth.

The company’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) came in at nearly Rs 165 crore, up 28% y-o-y. The Ebitda margins at about 17% remained flat y-o-y.

The cost of raw materials consumed during the quarter surged a sharp 39.3% y-o-y to Rs 347 crore. The total expenses were up 28.3% y-o-y to Rs 828 crore.

Madhusudan Gopalan, managing director, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care, said: “As we navigate the challenging cost environment, we will continue to focus on improving productivity by leveraging advertising and promotion analytics, strengthening our product mix and driving supply chain efficiencies. In the long term, we will continue to focus on driving balanced top- and bottom-line growth enabled by our superiority strategy, improving productivity, leading constructive disruption, and strengthening our organisation and culture.”

The company’s share price reacted positively to the numbers as it closed up 3.33% at Rs 14,390.75 on the BSE on Thursday.