India's Hindustan Unilever quarterly profit up 18pc

MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever (HUL) said Thursday that quarterly net profit leapt by a forecast-beating 18 percent as sales of beverages, soap and other goods boomed.

The company, 52 percent owned by Anglo-Dutch group Unilever, said net profit for the three months to June climbed to 6.27 billion rupees ($139 million) from 5.33 billion rupees in the same period a year earlier.

HUL, India's biggest consumer goods firm by revenues, said sales in the fiscal first quarter rose 15 percent to 55.04 billion rupees.

The earnings topped market expectations of a 5.8-billion-rupee profit.

The firm's home and personal care business rose by 15.4 percent year-on-year, reflecting buoyant growth in sales of soap and personal products.

"The food business grew by 14.9 percent on strong volumes in beverages, packaged foods," the company said in a statement.

HUL chairman Harish Manwani said the performance marked the fourth straight quarter of double-digit profit growth.

Manwani, however, added the business environment remained challenging with high commodity prices.

Hindustan Unilever's shares slipped 0.18 percent to 325.3 rupees following the company's earnings announcement.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011