Hindustan Unilever on Monday reported 17.87 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs1,252.17 crore for October-December quarter on the back of reduction in input costs and proceeds from sale of properties.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs1,062.31 crore in the October-December quarter of 2013-14. HUl's net sales increased by 7.69 per cent to Rs 7,579.18 crore in the third quarter of current fiscal, compared with Rs7,037.78 crore during the same period of last fiscal.
Exceptional income include a Rs407.29-crore profit from sales of properties during the quarter this fiscal, the company said in a filing to the BSE. Shares of the company, however, closed down by 5.27 per cent at Rs892.80 on BSE.
"The volume growth was soft during the quarter and there was modest pick up in the market. However, input costs have come down shortly due to falling crude prices," HUl Chief Financial Officer P B Balaji said.
He added that rural sales were picking up higher than in urban areas. The company has a ratio of 60:40 of sales from urban and rural areas. Moreover, delayed arrival of winters also affected sales of skincare products.