Gillette had a brush with gains in early trades on Friday after lowering losses for the fourth quarter and recording a net profit for the full year.

The improved performance was enough to take the scrip of the personal care major higher by 2.41% to Rs 309.95 by 10:05 IST today. But volumes were thin as only 26 Gillette shares got traded on the BSE till then.

After market hours on Thursday, Gillette said it had lowered losses for Q4 ended 31 December 2002 to Rs 3.33 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 25.36 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total income, however, decreased by 26.6% to Rs 99.46 crore from Rs 135.55 crore (Rs 1.35 billion) in DQ 2001.

For the full year ended 31 December 2002, the company recorded a net profit of Rs 6.46 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 27.79 crore in the year ended 31 December 2001. Total income dropped 15.6% to Rs 396.09 crore (Rs 3.96 billion) from Rs 469.23 crore (Rs 4.69 billion) in FY-2001.

A lumpy 27.5%, or Rs 2.75 per share, dividend declared by the company also worked in favour of the scrip on Friday.

Recently, the company entered into an agreement to sell its Geep battery business. The deal size was reported to be around Rs 30 crore and covered the Geep trademarks, designs, copyrights and all other rights in sales and distribution network.

The sale is in line with the parent company's strategic focus on the alkaline batteries segment. Earlier, Gillette had closed down its alkaline battery manufacturing plant at Manesar in Gurgaon. It now sources alkaline batteries from other Duracell facilities worldwide.

The sale of the Geep battery business coupled with the shutting down of its battery manufacturing plant implies that the company will have no export income from the sale of batteries. However, an appreciating rupee will lower its operating costs. As a result, operating income for the next year to December 2003 will fall, as exports accounted for a significant portion of Gillette's batteries business. Batteries accounted for 32% of Gillette's total turnover of Rs 496 crore (Rs 4.96 billion) for the year to December 2001. Shaving products contributed a hefty 60% while personal and household care products accounted for the rest.

The company is India's largest shaving products manufacturer and its product portfolio consists of brands such as Sensor Excel, Gillette Mach III, Gillette Presto, Gillette Series Shaving Gel etc.

As on 31 December 2002, promoters held 85.68% in the equity of Gillette India, while the public, institutions and foreign bodies held 8.86%, 0.77% and 3.94% respectively.