Hindustan Unilever : First-Quarter Net Profit Rose 5.9% on Gains in Food Segment

By Kosaku Narioka

Hindustan Unilever Ltd.'s first-quarter net profit rose 5.9% from a year earlier, thanks partly to higher earnings from the food-and-drink business and lower tax expenses, it said late Tuesday.

Net profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose to 18.98 billion Indian rupees ($254.6 million) from INR17.92 billion a year earlier, the Indian consumer-goods maker said. On a stand-alone basis, net profit was INR18.81 billion, slightly exceeding the estimate of INR18.07 billion by a FactSet poll of analysts.

Segment profit for the group's foods-and-refreshments business jumped 54% to INR5.82 billion, though earnings fell for the home-care and personal-care businesses. Tax expenses also declined.

The group's first-quarter revenue increased 3.5% to INR107.31 billion.

Hindustan Unilever said that excluding the impact of the acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd. in India, underlying domestic consumer business sales declined, weighed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [e-mail]