Procter & Gamble India Sees Sales Growth Stall As Company Focuses On Margins

Procter & Gamble India’s strategically important brands posted high single-digit sales growth in the January–March 2016 quarter, while sales for the rest of its local businesses, which make up about 15 percent of its brand lineup, dropped 30 percent. With the company’s push to improve margins hampering total sales, Procter & Gamble saw growth rates that were slower than the 15–20 percent recorded in the past decade, even for the core brands. In the past three years, the company invested more than Rs 2,000 crore to expand local manufacturing capability and reduce dependence on more expensive imports.