Hindustan Unilever reported on Tuesday, 23 July that its Q1 FY25 net profit rose 3 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,538 crore from Rs 2,472 crores in Q1FY24, beating analysts estimates by a slight margin. The FMCG firm's total sales for the April-June quarter rose 2 percent on-year at Rs 15,523 crore.
"In the last two years, market volume recovery has been gradual and much lower than what we would have liked due to the impact of sustained high inflation combined with erratic weather patterns. Consequently, rural growth which used to surpass urban had lagged behind urban over the last year. In the last few months, we are seeing some green shoots in rural demand recovery. However, over two year CAGR rural growth still lags that of urban. We continue to closely monitor rural progress. There are a few critical factors that could impact the space of recovery," said Rohit Jawa, CEO & Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Limited on the earnings call.
A Moneycontrol poll of 9 brokerage estimates pegged HUL's fiscal first quarter net profit at Rs 2,512 crore, and revenue at Rs 15,205 crore.
HUL's Q1 earnings were expected to remain muted due to an intense heatwave hurting limiting sales, and price cuts taken during the quarter.
The FMCG firm's underlying volume growth was at 4 percent during the quarter, it said in an earnings release. Gradual recovery in rural demand continued, while commodity prices remained range-bound, it added.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter is at Rs 3,606 crores and it grew by 2 percent. EBITDA margin at 23.8% increased by 20 bps.
"We continue to focus on operational excellence and build back our gross margins with a substantial part of this being reinvested behind brands and capabilities," said Jawa.
The home-care segment's underlying sales growth (USG) grew 4 percent and underlying volume growth (UVG) saw high-single digit growth. High single digit volume growth in fabric wash and household care grew mid-single digit on the back of strong premium and mass brands.
Beauty and personal care USG grew 3% and UVG grew at mid-single digit growth. Hair Care saw double-digit underlying volume growth led by Clinic Plus, Sunsilk and Dove. Skin care and colour cosmetics witnessed muted volume performance in the quarter with mass portfolio declining.
Personal care segment saw declined by 5 percent sales growth and and low-single digit growth in volume.
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