Hindustan Unilever net profit grows over 27 per cent at Rs 1,326 crore during December quarter

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) registered net profits amounting to Rs 1,326 crore during the third quarter of 2017-18 that ended on December 31, 2017. This amounts to 27.74 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit for the FMCG major during the December quarter. The company recorded net profit to the tune of Rs 1,038 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, it said a stock exchange filing.

In its Q3 2017-18 financial results, HUL mentioned a 24 per cent y-o-y increase in EBITDA at Rs 1,680 crore, as opposed to Rs 1,355 crore last fiscal. Total income during the quarter under review stood at Rs 8,742 crore as against Rs 8,400 crore in the year-ago period, up 4 per cent, it added. Total expenses during the December quarter 2017-18 stood at Rs 7,036 crore in comparison to Rs 7,067 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The personal care segment generated Rs 4,090 crore in revenue during Q3 2017-18 as against Rs 3,980 crore in the year ago period. Home care division contributed Rs 2,741 crore during the quarter compared to 2,689 crore year ago. HUL saw double digit volume growth across categories under home care segment, a company statement said.

HUL further added that growth in the household care segment was led by a strong performance in Vim. The purifiers business saw the launch of air purifiers under the Pureit brand. "Personal wash witnessed robust growth across key brands led by Dove and Pears. Growth in skin care was driven by the strong performance of Fair & Lovely," the company said.

HUL stated that the GST rate cut benefits have been passed on end consumers immediately, expect those put into effect on November 15, 2017 due to lack of time. "Therefore, an estimated value of Rs 119 crore was proactively disclosed to the CBEC on this count and we offered to pay this amount suo motu to the Government. This amount is not recognised as revenue and is accounted as a liability as on 31st December 2017," company stated.

"We have delivered another strong performance in the quarter, with broad based growth across categories and further improvement in margins," HUL Chairman Harish Manwani said.

On the outlook, he said, "We remain positive about the mid-term outlook of the industry and will continue to invest strongly in our core brands and developing categories of the future".

He, however, said there were early signs of commodity cost inflation and the company would further sharpen its focus on cost effectiveness programmes and manage business dynamically for competitiveness and sustained profitability.

(With PTI inputs)