P&G Hygeine rallied for the second day in a row on Tuesday.

Around mid-afternoon on Tuesday, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care jumped up 4.3% to Rs 400.90 on BSE. The scrip hit a high of Rs 426. A total of 7,842 PGHHCL shares were registered as volumes on BSE so far.

The scrip surged 4% on Monday to Rs 394.25 after it announced Q3 results last week. With Tuesday's rise, the stock has gained 8.5% in the two sessions from Rs 369.30 on 25 April 2003 (at close).

The stock has witnessed a roller coaster ride over the last few days in the run up to the results. In a single trading session on 10 April 2003, the stock plunged 14% to Rs 326.55 from its previous close of Rs 380.55. The stock rebounded immediately after that to settle at the Rs 370-level.

The stock is generally thinly traded. Average daily volumes over the past year were a mere 1,460 shares on BSE.

PGHHCL, a 65% subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, US, has registered a 22% growth in net profit to Rs 14.77 crore for the third quarter ended March 2003. Net sales registered a good growth of 17% to Rs 95.56 crore.

The company markets several leading brands: the Whisper range of sanitary napkins and Vicks range which includes Vicks Vaporub, Vicks Action 500, Vicks Cough Drops and Vicks Inhaler and the Old Spice range in men's toiletries. After the company divested the Clearasil business and other contract manufactured items, sanitary protection, and cough and cold medication have emerged as the two key businesses.

In order to improve profits in spite of the fall in product price, the company, apart from its ongoing efforts in reducing costs, has decided on focusing on new products including stretching the franchise of its Vicks brand considering that it is already the market leader in the Vaporub category. However, this year it decided to discontinue test-launching its Tampax brand of tampons in Chennai and Madurai due to poor consumer response.

During the third quarter of the year, the company decided to outsource the manufacture of Vicks Vaporub Exports to contract manufacturer Maksons, Hyderabad. The arrangement will enable PGHHCL to continue exporting Vicks Vaporub to Australia, Japan and other Asian countries, but at more competitive rates, at the same time maintaining its high quality. As a part of this deal, the contract manufacturer will purchase from PGHHCL, land, building and machinery at P&G's Hyderabad factory, where Vicks Vaporub is currently being made. PGHHCL will continue to manufacture Vicks Vaporub for domestic sale at its plant at Kundaim, Goa.