New Delhi, Jan 22 Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Wednesday reported a 19 per cent increase in its net profit for the third quarter this fiscal at Rs 3,001 crore, compared to Rs 2,519 crore in the same quarter in the year-ago period.
The country’s largest FMCG company also announced the acquisition of a 90.5 per cent stake in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand Minimalist for Rs 2,955 crore, with the remaining 9.5 per cent stake to be acquired from its founders, Rahul and Mohit Yadav, within two years.
The strong Q3 profit growth was mainly due to a one-time gain of Rs 509 crore from the sale of the company’s Pureit business. Without this exceptional gain, the company’s profit before tax (PBT) was up 16 per cent to Rs 3,978 crore, the company said in its exchange filing.
“The acquisition of Minimalist and the demerger of the ice cream division are part of our long-term growth strategy in the Indian FMCG sector,” said Rohit Jawa, CEO and Managing Director of HUL.
However, the profit after tax before exceptional items remained flat in Q3 at Rs 2,540 crore compared to last year.
HUL’s revenue for Q3 grew by 2 per cent, amounting to Rs 15,195 crore. The company’s home care segment, which saw a 6 per cent increase in underlying sales growth.
According to Jawa, FMCG demand trends remained subdued with continued moderation in urban growth while rural sustained its gradual recovery.
“In this operating context, we delivered competitive growth by driving unmissable brand superiority, investing behind brands and capabilities whilst maintaining healthy margins,” he noted.
Categories like fabric wash and household care led the volume growth in this segment. However, the overall volume growth for the company was flat due to a negative product mix.
Operating profit saw a modest rise of 1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,570 crore, but the company’s margins dropped by 20 basis points to 23.5 per cent.
HUL's shares closed at Rs 2,340 on the NSE on Wednesday, showing a slight dip.
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