India: Hindustan Unilever posts 10% Q2 sales increase

Hindustan Unilever, the Indian unit of consumer goods giant Unilever Plc, has reported double-digit sales increase for the second quarter of its financial year.

The company announced that, during the quarter ending 30th September 2014, the Domestic Consumer business grew by 10%, ahead of market, with 5% underlying volume growth.

Double-digit growth was recorded in soaps & detergents, packaged foods and water, while beverages saw volume-led growth in tea & coffee, the company said.

Harish Manwani, Chairman of Hindustan Unilever, commented: “In a low growth environment, our emphasis on market development and innovations have helped deliver another quarter of double digit growth and a healthy improvement in operating margins. The consistency of our performance is a reflection of the discipline and rigor with which we are executing our strategy. We will continue to manage our business dynamically for sustained competitive and profitable growth”.

The company said in a statement that Q2 net profit also rose to 9.88 billion rupees ($161 million), 8% higher that the  9.14 billion rupees ($150 million) recorded a year earlier. Overall sales for the quarter totalled 74.66 billion rupees ($1,220 million).

Source: Hindustan Unilever