HUL 3rd quarter net profit rises 7 per cent; revenue declines

Total income from operations declined 0.79 per cent to Rs 8,317.94 crore, compared with Rs 8,384.68 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal, said the company.

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Aided by a strong exceptional income, fast-moving consumer goods major HUL has posted a 6.82 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 1,037.93 crore for the third quarter of the current financial year at a time when demonetisation hit rural demand and revenues declined.

HUL had posted a net profit of Rs 971.66 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal. Its exceptional income in the third quarter of 2016-17 was Rs 153.05 crore, as against exceptional expense of Rs 79.61 crore it had incurred in the same period of 2015-16. “The gradual recovery of the market was temporarily impacted by adverse liquidity conditions. However, our performance demonstrated resilience and agility in this challenging environment,” HUL Chairman Harish Manwani said in a statement.

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Total income from operations declined 0.79 per cent to Rs 8,317.94 crore, compared with Rs 8,384.68 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal, said the company.

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“There are early signs of normalisation and our focus continues to remain on innovation led volume growth and improvement in margins. Our strategic agenda of delivering consistent, competitive, profitable and responsible growth remains unchanged,” he added.

HUL chief financial officer PB Balaji said due to impact of demonetisation, consumers’ purchase basket size reduced. “There was varied impact across market and we expect a gradual improvement in the market in line with the liquidity improvement. South and west regions of the country were least impact, while north and central most,” Balaji added.

He said the company extended credit to its trade partners after demonetisation to help tide over liquidity crunch. It, however, did not hold back any planned investment or launches during the quarter. During the quarter under review, HUL’s revenue from home segment was up 1.02 per cent at Rs 2,689.06 crore, while its revenue from personal products declined by 2.69 per cent to Rs 3,980.17 crore. The refreshment segment revenue was up marginally by 0.46 per cent to Rs 278.5 crore and that from foods vertical grew by 8.14 per cent to Rs 1,164.12 crore.

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Revenues from other segments which include exports, water, infant care business declined by 27.33 per cent to Rs 195.4 crore in the third quarter.