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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Aug. 8 Unusually bright and sunny weather in the British Isles has led the UK-based toiletries company Keyline Brands, owned by the Godrej group, to grow at more than 60 per cent this year. Its toiletries brands such as Perspirex (anti-perspirant) and P-20 (suntan) have been doing well, primarily due to the absence of UK’s typical grey weather this season. Other toiletries brands such as Bio Oil (for stretch marks) and Cuticura (hand sanitisers) have recorded significant growth compared to the previous years in spite of the slowdown in the UK market.

Mr Hoshedar Press, Executive Director and President of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, said: “There has been remarkable improvement this year in our toiletries portfolio. The products and brands which are weather-dependent have particularly done well. These are anti-perspirant and suntan brands which are being distributed by Keyline Brands such as Perspirex and P-20. Besides, an anti-stretchmark brand such as Bio Oil could have grown on the back of its new ad campaign released this year.”

Despite recession plaguing most of the European nations along with terrorism threats which rocked London last year, improved weather conditions have been a boon for toiletries manufacturers such as Keyline Brands. As Mr Press says, “The UK economy is on the verge of recession and along with terrorism threats, the economic climate may be bad but at the same time there has been good weather prevailing in the country.”

Comprising primarily toiletries brands, Keyline’s high growth rates may also be attributed to the small base of the FMCG company. As he observes, “Keyline largely has a portfolio of skin and toiletries brands and has grown in excess of 60 per cent this year compared to the previous years. But this is also due to the fact that Keyline Brands operates on a smaller base.”

For the Godrej group on a consolidated basis, toiletries registered a whopping growth of 66.1 per cent year-on-year owing to the strong performance by Keyline Brands, which registered a growth of 58.6 per cent year-on-year in topline to Rs 62 crore (Rs 39 crore) this quarter.

Moreover, in terms of earnings growth, Keyline registered a 250 per cent year-on-year jump to Rs 6.6 crore (Rs 1.9 crore) owing to robust topline and 2.6 percentage points expansion in PBIT margins.

It was in late 2005 that the Godrej Group had acquired the UK-based Keyline Brands with brands such as Erasmic and Inecto, marking its foray into the global market.

In the domestic market too, GCPL’s toiletries portfolio grew at 28 per cent on the back of strong growth from its Cinthol franchise comprising talc, deo sprays and Godrej Deluxe shaving cream.

More Stories on : Brands | Performance | Personal Products

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