FMCG firm Gillette India today reported a 46.57 per cent decline in its net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010, at Rs 20.02 crore, mainly due to huge expenditures in advertising activities.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 37.47 crore in the corresponding period previous year, Gillette India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The total income during the three-month period, however, increased by 26.17 per cent to Rs 254.46 crore from Rs 201.68 crore in the year ago period, it added.

Commenting on the fall in the net profit, the company said: “This was driven by doubling of advertising and promotion expenses behind strategic new future innovations, which will enable continued future growth.”

Shares of the company today closed 1.09 per cent down at Rs 1,741.75 apiece on the BSE.

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