HUL sales up 8%, but tax bites

Aided by robust growth in key consumer product segments Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Tuesday reported a 7.8 per cent year-on-year growth in net sales for the April-June first quarter, but its net profit slipped by about 3 per cent on higher tax provisions.

Aided by robust growth in key consumer product segments Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Tuesday reported a 7.8 per cent year-on-year growth in net sales for the April-June first quarter, but its net profit slipped by about 3 per cent on higher tax provisions.

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Braving a difficult market in which price increases were balanced with cost effectiveness, HUL managed a 2 per cent volume growth and an improvement in profit margins.

Net sales rose from Rs 4,152.8 crore in the year-ago quarter to Rs 4,475.6 crore while net profit fell to Rs 539.4 crore from Rs 559.2 crore.

The core fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business grew in sales by 12.8 per cent from Rs 3,677.9 crore to Rs 4,148.6 crore, helped by a 17 per cent growth in foods.

“The personal products category saw a fall in profits due to input cost inflation, while rising sugar costs and expenditure on innovation in ketchups category affected the profitability of the processed foods business,” Chief Financial Officer R Sridhar said.