Hind Unilever Q2 net up 8% at Rs988 cr

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has reported a net profit of Rs988.16 crore for the July-September 2014-15 quarter, an 8.13 per cent increase from a net profit of Rs913.8 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2013-14.

Net profit for the July-September 2014-15 quarter also included an exceptional item of Rs48 crore in the second quarter of FY15 against exceptional item of Rs33 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Net profit (after tax and prior quarter tax adjustments and before exceptional items) from ordinary activities stood at Rs956.97 crore for the July-September 2014-15 quarter, an 8.4 per cent increase from a net profit of Rs883.00 crore reported in the comparable quarter of the previous financial year.

Net sales for the July-September 2014-15 quarter grew 10.6 per cent to Rs7,465.54 crore against net sales of Rs6,747.2 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal.

Domestic consumer business, including bottled water sales, grew 10.4 per cent with a 10.7 per cent growth in home and personal care and 9.4 per cent growth in foods businesses during the quarter.

Operating profit (profit from operations before other income, finance costs and exceptional items) for the quarter grew 14.1 per cent to Rs1,165.65 crore compared with operating profit of Rs1,021.39 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Overall expenses during Q2 stood at Rs6,473.68 crore, against Rs5,871.25 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, the company estimated depreciation at Rs7.90 crore (net of deferred tax of Rs4.07 crore) on account of assets whose useful life was already exhausted as of 1 April 2014.

Depreciation for the quarter includes an amount of Rs9.63 crore (including JQ'14: Rs4.80 crore) consequent to the revision in useful life effective 1 April 2014.

Other income includes interest income, dividend income and net gain on sale of other non-trade current investments aggregating to Rs98.25 crore (Q2FY13: Rs96.36 crore) and dividend income from trade non-current investments Rs99.55 crore (Q2FY13: Rs54.63 crore).

The board of directors of HUL at their meeting today resolved to pay interim dividend of Rs6 per share of face value of Re1 for the financial year. The interim dividend will be payable on or after 14 November 2014 and the record date for determining entitlement has been fixed as 3 November 2014.

''In a low growth environment, our emphasis on market development and innovations have helped deliver another quarter of double digit growth and a healthy improvement in operating margins. The consistency of our performance is a reflection of the discipline and rigor with which we are executing our strategy. We will continue to manage our business dynamically for sustained competitive and profitable growth,'' Harish Manwani, chairman of HUL, commented.

During the quarter, HUL said sales grew across product ranges, including skin care, household care, hair care, personal care, oral care and laundry, with soaps and detergents business recording double digit broad based growth.