Despite a challenging economic environment, fast-moving consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever Ltd has posted better-than-expected results for the quarter ended June 30.

The company’s net profit rose 3.5 per cent to ₹1,056 crore in the fiscal first quarter, compared with ₹1,019 crore in the year-ago period. Net sales stood at ₹7,570 crore, up 12 per cent from ₹6,687 crore it reported in the June 2013 quarter. Volume rose 5 per cent in the quarter compared with 6 per cent a year earlier.

Healthy growth The company has taken several initiatives, including steps to manage input costs and rationalisation of non-performing SKUs (stock keeping units) to boost sales and profit.

“We are pulling down some categories that are not doing well and we plan to stop 20-25 per cent non-moving SKUs by the end of this year. This is a continuous pruning exercise to maintain a healthy growth,” CEO Sanjeev Mehta said.

The maker of brands such as Dove, Lakme and Lifebuoy was able to grow at a time when the overall market contracted 2 per cent in the June quarter, compared with the previous one.

“The operating environment remained challenging with market growth further slowing down both in volume and value terms. While it is difficult to predict how things will pan out in the coming quarters, we are already seeing headwinds on market growth, consumer spending and inflation. That apart input costs are going up. Despite all that we have grown in double digits in all the categories,” said company's CFO P B Balaji.

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