Hindustan Unilever declines post Q1 results

At 02:40 PM, the stock was down 2% at Rs 895 on the NSE; it had weakened by nearly 5% at Rs 871 in intra-day trades.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever dipped nearly 5% at Rs 871 on the NSE after the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major reported a flat standalone net profit of Rs 1,059 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 (Q1). The company had posted a profit of Rs 1,057 crore in the same quarter year ago.

The growth in net profit was impacted by one-time profit on sale of investments in the base quarter and higher tax rate, Hindustan Unilever said in a statement.

Meanwhile, net sales during the quarter under review grew by 5.3% at Rs 7,973 crore against Rs 7,571 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

During the quarter, the domestic consumer business grew at 5%, with 6% underlying volume growth.

The growth in the quarter was impacted by the phase-out of excise duty incentives and price de-growth as the benefit of lower commodity costs was passed on to consumers, the company added.

Analysts on an average estimated net profit of Rs 1,110 crore and net sales of Rs 6,710 crore for the quarter.

At 02:40 PM, the stock was down 2% at Rs 895 on the NSE and had seen a combined 4.46 million shares changing hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE.