P&G Hygiene and Health Care hit a new 52-week high on the back of its very good performance it posted for third quarter ended 31^st March 2014 (30^th June is year ending). It reported a very healthy 55% (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs.81 crore and this robust bottom line was on the back of 20% rise in net sales at Rs.500 crore.  Thanks to tight cost controls, its EBITDA margin improved substantially from 15.71% to 21.76%.

The company, for 9M ended 31^st March 2014, paid up a royalty of Rs.73 crore compared to Rs.60 crore paid in previous 9M. For the entire year in 2013, it had paid a royalty to the parent of Rs.80 crore and with one more quarter to go, surely the outgo would be much higher in 2014. Its advertising costs have also risen in Q3 at Rs.83 crore, up 28% (YoY) but QoQ, it has fallen by 14%. Its 9M EPS stands at Rs.65 and this means, we are currently looking at a discounting of over 55 times. The good news here is that it is sure to end 2014 on a high note as its net profit for 9M2014 at Rs.212 crore has already surpassed that of 12M2013 net profit of Rs.203 crore.