FMCG major Hindustan Unilever ltd on Monday announced 11 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs872 crore for the January-March quarter on improved margins and 9 per cent spike in sales led by beverages and premium segments.
HUl Chief Financial Officer R Sridhar attributed the rise in the overall numbers to an improved show by the domestic consumer business, which grew at 9 per cent - ahead of the overall market - with 3 per cent underlying volume growth.
This is however a tepid demand growth for the eighth straight quarter. HUl Chairman Harish Manwani said: “Against a challenging environment, we delivered another year of competitive and profitable growth. We stepped up investment in our brands and innovations, while driving cost savings and operational efficiencies with even greater rigour.
“looking ahead, we are confident that our strategy is on track to deliver sustainable long term growth and margin improvement.”
For the full fiscal 2013-14, HUl’s net profit rose to Rs3,955 crore from Rs3,839 crore, while total sales jumped to Rs28,539 crore up 8.7 per cent from Rs26,317 crore.
Speaking to reporters on a concall, Sridhar refused to offer a guidance citing HUl policy but sounded positive saying the company will grow above the industry level. He also refused to hazard a guess on the monsoon front saying it is too early to comment.
“We are very positive about our consumer goods business in the medium to long term, but cannot comment on the short-term,” Sridhar said.
last year’s higher profit was due to a significant income from property sales, while cash generated from operations rose to over Rs5,000 crore, up Rs462 crore from the previous year (2012-13), Sridhar said.
Margins which rose 30 bps in the reporting quarter were led by better sales in the premium soaps like Dove, lux and mass brand Breeze, Sridhar said, adding that the skin care, food and beverages as well as haircare business did well.
Net sales climbed 8.9 per cent to Rs6,935.82 crore in the fourth quarter, from Rs6,367.14 crore a year ago. Overall expenses in Q4 stood at Rs6,082.32 crore, as against Rs5,555.46 crore in the year-ago period. In Q4, 2013-14 revenue from soap and detergents rose 9.57 per cent to Rs3,497.12 crore, personal products increased 8.31 per cent to Rs1,983.29 crore. Revenue from beverages grew 7.54 per cent to Rs869.04 crore and packaged food rose 12.71 per cent to Rs419.68 crore.
Kotak Securities FMCG analyst Ritwik Rai said the revenue numbers came in broadly in line with expectations, with 3 per cent volume growth.