Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Tuesday reported a 9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone net profit at Rs 2,187 crore for the July-September quarter. The company had reported a profit of Rs 2,061 crore in the preceding June quarter. The FMCG major's sales rose 11 per cent YoY to Rs 12,516 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 11,276 crore in the year-ago period. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 9 per cent YoY to Rs 3,132 crore during the quarter, while EBITDA margin expanded by 70 basis points to 25 per cent during September quarter from June quarter. However, it contracted by 40 basis points as compared to the corresponding quarter of previous year. HUL said the margin headwinds are likely to persist for the company as prices of commodities remain volatile and elevated. It said judicious pricing actions coupled with cost agility and savings programmes will continue. "Our focused actions on net revenue management and savings have enabled us to manage inflationary pressures and deliver a healthy bottomline performance," it said.
Also Read: Moody's revises Indian banking system outlook to 'stable' from 'negative' The company saw broad based growth across segments during the quarter under review, with home care segment growing 15 per cent, beauty and personal care 10 per cent, and foods and refreshment 7 per cent. It said business fundamentals remained strong during the quarter with more than three-fourths of its business gaining market share and penetration. HUL remains cautiously optimistic in the near term, and said the next few months will be critical to get a better understanding of underlying demand based on normalisation of economic activities, onset and intensity of winter, and impact of inflation. "September quarter witnessed a sequential improvement in trading conditions, albeit remained challenging with unprecedented levels of input cost inflation and subdued consumer sentiments. In this backdrop, we have delivered a strong performance growing topline in double digits and stepping up profitability sequentially," HUL CMD Sanjiv Mehta said. Calibrated price increases and focus on savings has helped the company protect its business model while ensuring the right price-value equation for consumers, Mehta added. The company also declared an interim dividend of Rs 15 per equity share. Shares of HUL were trading 4.43 per cent lower at Rs 2,536.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday after the announcement of financial results.
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