By Gurdev Singh Virk
MUMBAI--Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (500696.BY), India's largest
consumer goods company by revenue, Monday reported a 21.9% increase
in its fiscal-third-quarter net profit, helped by higher product
sales and lower tax payments.
For the three months through December, Hindustan Unilever posted
a net profit of 10.62 billion rupees ($168.6 million), compared
with 8.71 billion rupees a year earlier.
Sales rose 9.4% to 70.38 billion rupees from 64.34 billion
rupees, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Tax expenses for the period declined 10.7% to 2.48 billion
rupees.
The company, a unit of U.K.-based Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN), has a
wide distribution network that reaches thousands of supermarkets as
well as smaller shops across India. Its sales are widely seen as an
indicator of consumer demand in the country.
Hindustan Unilever's shares, which were trading flat earilier in
the day, rose after the results were announced. At 0945 GMT, they
were up 2.7% at 581.30 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange, as
compared to a 2.0% decline in the benchmark Sensex index.
Write to Gurdev Singh Virk at Gurdev.Singh@wsj.com
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