HUL Q2 profit falls 2.62%; first dip in over two years

Hit by price cuts in key products, including soaps and detergents, coupled with impact of phasing out of excise duty incentives, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever on Wednesday reported 2.62 per cent drop in standalone net profit for the quarter ended September 2015, its first quarterly decline in over two years.

The company posted <g data-gr-id="14">standalone</g> net profit of Rs 962.24 crore for <g data-gr-id="15">three-month</g> period ended September 30, <g data-gr-id="16">2015-16</g> as against Rs 988.16 crore in the comparable period of 2014-15. HUL’s net sales, however, climbed 4.74 <g data-gr-id="12">per cent</g> to Rs 7,819.64 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 7,465.54 crore a year ago, the company said in a statement.

“The growth in the quarter continued to be impacted by the phasing out of excise duty incentives and price de-growth, as the benefit of lower commodity costs was passed on to consumers,” HUL added. Before the September quarter, the company had been posting growth in net profit for over two years. “We last had a decline in the quarterly net profit last time in June 2013,” a company spokesperson said. The company said the soaps and detergents segment witnessed a 4.08 per cent decline in profit before tax and interest from ordinary activities at Rs 490.3 crore.