HUL net profit at Rs 1,095 cr, up 12% y-o-y

Net sales increased 1.5% year on-year, touching Rs 8,335.12 crore for the quarter under review

The country's largest consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported a nearly 12% per cent increase in  net profit to Rs 1095.60 crore for the quarter ended September 2016 vs Rs 982.17 cr y-o-y. Net sales increased 1.5% per cent year on-year, touching Rs 8335.12 crore for the quarter under review.

In the June quarter, HUL net profit was up nearly 10 per cent to Rs 1173.9 crore, aided by a one-time write-back of employee provision benefits. Adjusted for this, profit would have fallen short of expectations.

For the June quarter, total income (net sales plus other operating income) was marginally up 3.6 per cent year-on-year, touching Rs 8,128.2 crore. Revenue (net sales) at Rs 7,988 crore (up 3.6 per cent year-on-year) was 6.2 per cent lower than Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 8,517 crore.

HUL's chairman Harish Manwani said, "In a challenging market, we delivered another quarter of profitable quarter. With a good monsoon, we expect a gradual improvementin market demand."

HUL's scrip rose briefly in pre-lunch trading today after opening weak at Rs 831 per unit on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). At 1.10 pm, the stock was hovering at Rs 839 per unit before closing the day at Rs 842.80 per unit, up 1.29 per cent. Analysts said the street had factored in the company's performance after parent Unilever had indicated earlier that the Indian market had softened.