A 'fair and lovely' quarter for Hindustan Lever

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Food, detergent and personal product company, Hindustan Lever announced its results last evening. The company's total sales grew by 8.7% at Rs 3083 crore and net profit was up 35.1% at Rs 381 crores, reports CNBC-TV18.

It's been a fair and lovely quarter for Hindustan Lever, with the consumer company seeing its FMCG sales growing by 12%. And HLL claims that they are growing ahead of the market. So while the household and personal care category grew by 14% , foods like Kissan and Knorr saw a 4% growth. The company has seen improved gross margins.

"We've managed through cost efficiencies, cost increases and we have sustained profitability in terms of good EBITDA margins," said D Sundaram, Director-Finance, HLL.

Margins are looking good but like Godrej , Marico and Dabur , HLL is worried about freight rates and crude oil prices. Price hikes may not be ruled out; but for now, HLL will focus on investing more behind its brands.

The company is gearing up to add more kick to its tea labels, a category, which has declined in the last six months.