Hindustan Unilever's Q4 net profit rises by 7% to Rs 1,183 crore

Hindustan Unilever on Wednesday announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The company reported a net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,183 crore, a rise of 8% as against Rs 1039 crore in the previous quarter.

During the quarter, the company's domestic consumer business grew by 8% with underlying volume growth of 4% and EBITDA margin expanded by 90 basis points. 

EBITDA for the quarter was at Rs 1,651 crore, a jump of 12% as against Rs 1470 crore in the previous quarter. As per the company's statement, the net sales grew by 7% during the quarter.

For the full financial year, the company's domestic business grew by 4% with 1% underlying volume growth and EBITDA margin expanded by 38 basis points. The net sales for FY17 grew by 3%.  

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Commenting on the performance of the company, Harish Manwani, Chairman, said, "This has been a strong quarter with profitable volume driven growth. In a challenging year, we delivered a resilient performance by managing our business dynamically and responding with agility to the changing external environment. With gradual improvement in market conditions, we remain optimistic about the medium term outlook for our sector. 

"We welcome the introduction of GST and believe it will be a win-win for all stakeholders," Manwani said. 

The cost of goods sold was lower by 20 basis points with moderating inflation. Brand communication objectives were met while delivering 80 basis points of Brand & Marketing Investment (BMI) savings.