Hindustan Unilever posted a 21 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 687 crore for the January-March quarter.

The Indian unit of Anglo-Dutch Unilever Plc said its net sales grew 20 per cent to Rs 5,660 crore. Analysts had expected a 16-18 per cent rise in the net sales.

The underlying volume growth was 9.6 per cent; price hikes accounted for the rest.

Meanwhile, for financial year ending March 30, 2012, the company reported a 17 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 2,691 crore (including exceptional items). Its revenues, too, increased 17 per cent to Rs 22,987 crore.

The maker of Dove soap, Clinic Plus shampoo and Close-Up toothpaste said high raw material costs, driven by crude and palm oil, pushed up the costs of goods sold by 80 basis points.

“The growth in the overall FMCG market was led by price hikes in soaps and detergents, though currency and inflationary pressures continued to pinch,” the company's CEO, Mr Nitin Paranjpe, said.

However, the company, quoting market research reports, said that the overall market grew by 4 per cent and HUL performed better than the market.

The company's domestic sales, also seen as a proxy for consumer demand in the country, stood at Rs 5,494 crore, up from Rs 4,565 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The HUL Chairman, Mr Harish Manwani, said: “Our performance through the year has been consistent. In a year of competitive intensity and high volatility, a sharp focus on cost management helped the business to continue to invest in our brands and capabilities, while delivering an improvement in margins.”

During the quarter, the firm's home and personal-care business grew by 17 per cent to Rs 3,623 crore, which was largely volume-led.

Sales of soaps and detergents, which form the largest segment and the highest revenue grosser for HUL, rose 28 per cent because the company undertook price hikes in the last several quarters

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