Bengaluru-based Wipro Ltd.’s consumer wing, Wipro Consumer Care plans to extend its Yardley franchise to body lotions, revealed Vineet Agarwal, president of the division. Currently, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting (WCCL), which contributes nine per cent to the parent’s overall turnover, has soaps, talcs, deodarants, after-shave lotions and shaving creams under Yardley in India. Most personal care heavyweights are gradually extending their portfolios into this segment, in an effort to have a larger consumer base. Hindustan Unilever, for example, has moved into the body care space with its Vaseline range of products, as have companies like Emami and L’Oreal.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2010, WCCL’s personal care business, which includes Yardley, Santoor and Chandrika brands, among other products, grew by 30 percent. Overall, WCCL’s growth in top line (sales revenue) for the third quarter, as well as the nine-month period ended December 2010, was 21 per cent respectively to Rs 695 crore and Rs 2,001, as against Rs 574 crore and Rs 1,653 crore reported for the corresponding periods a year earlier.
Profit before interest and tax grew 14 per cent for both the quarter and nine-month period ended December, to Rs 85.4 crore and Rs 258 crore versus Rs 74.9 crore and Rs 226 crore a year before.
Source: Business Standard
