New Delhi : FMCG major Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) standalone net profit remained flat at Rs 1,059.14 crore for the first quarter ended June due to subdued demand in rural markets.
Net sales climbed 5.31% to Rs 7,973.37 crore in the quarter under review. HUL Chairman Harish Manwani said: “In a subdued market environment, the business delivered another quarter of healthy volume-led growth and strong improvement in operating margin.”
He further said: “With the near-term outlook largely dependent on pickup in rural markets and commodity costs expected to remain benign with little or no price growth across select categories, our focus will be to drive market development and simultaneously deliver cost efficiencies to sustain profitable volume-led growth.”
During the quarter, HUL’s revenue from soaps and detergents grew by dismal 0.17 by % to Rs 3,854.41 crore and of personal products by 11.39 % to Rs 2,405.57 crore. Revenue from beverages grew by 9.36 % to Rs 914.9 crore and packaged foods went up by 11.79 % to Rs 607.94 crore.
