Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), India's largest consumer goods maker, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, aided by strong demand for its home care products.
HUL also benefited from a low base of sales in the pandemic-hit year-ago period, but surging inflation in recent months has curbed spending by consumers.
High commodity prices had forced the Indian unit of Unilever to raise prices across its main segments, including for fabric wash and household care products.
"While there are near-term concerns around inflation, the recent softening of commodities, forecast of a normal monsoon, and monetary/fiscal measures taken by the government augur well for the industry," chief executive officer Sanjiv Mehta said in a statement.
Consumer Inflation
India's annual consumer inflation, which touched multi-year highs in the past few months, eased marginally to 7.01% in June.
Sales of HUL's home care products, including brands like Surf Excel and Vim, jumped nearly 30% to 49.31 billion rupees in the quarter, while the beauty and personal care segment grew 17%.
The company's profit rose to 22.89 billion rupees ($286.36 million) for the three months ended 30 June, higher than analysts' expectations of 21.93 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.
HUL sold products worth 140.16 billion rupees during the quarter.
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