Analyst Corner: Maintain ‘buy’ on Colgate with revised TP of Rs 1,820

Colgate’s growth agenda, which began under the current CEO, is gaining momentum as evident in the recent investor presentation. While profitable growth has been the stated objective in the past too, the equilibrium is shifting more in favour of ‘growth’ than ‘profits’. New launches continue and there is a well-thought-out strategy that is also supported by marketing spends. Efforts are underway on distribution expansion with share gains visible in MT/e-comm.

Expanding Vedshakti, colgate’s naturals portfolio has seen strong traction with 70bps increase in penetration, doubling of store availability and +500bps share gains on MT/ E-Comm. The company has refreshed the Vedshakti brand with new packaging, and plans to expand it to adjacent oral care categories and build a naturals platform. After launching Vedshakti mouth spray, Colgate has now launched Vedshakti Oil Pulling.

Core doing well too, re-launch of flagship, Colgate Strong Teeth, done last year has led to +130bps increase in penetration, +120 bps share gain in MT and 15% growth during Covid. New offerings in toothbrush, naturals portfolio is being expanded, even in toothbrushes, with launch of Zig Zag Turmeric and Super Flexi Salt. The base variant in Zig Zag has also been re-launched with anti-bacterial bristles. Colgate Gentle series of toothbrushes, launched a few months back, has also seen good response.

Innovation for Diabetics, colgate announced the launch of world’s first toothpaste for diabetics. India has c.73mn diabetics, who face a 3x risk of contracting gum diseases. This new product is an ayurvedic solution, which can reduce gum bleeding by 50% and plague severity by 22%.

Building heft in pharmacies, colgate plans to adopt a pharmacy-first GTM approach for its toothpaste for diabetics. Retain Buy, we continue to like management’s focus on expanding the Colgate franchise through innovative NPDs and good execution. We maintain our Buy rating with a revised PT of 1,820.