Unilever India arm posts 14.7pc net profit jump

India's biggest consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever, the local unit of giant Anglo-Dutch Unilever, announced Monday a surprise 14.7 percent rise in net profit for the January-March quarter.
The firm said net profit came in at 7.87 billion rupees ($145 million) in the final three months of the fiscal year, from 6.86 billion rupees a year earlier.
Expectations had been for a 7.5 billion rupee profit.
The company's sales -- watched by analysts as an indicator of Indian consumer demand in the face of a sharp slowdown in economic growth -- rose 12.4 percent to 63.6 billion rupees.
"In a challenging environment, we delivered broad-based competitive growth and margin improvement," company chairman chairman Harish Manwani said.
The result saw shares in Hindustan Unilever (HUL), whose parent is the world's second-largest consumer goods firm, jump as much as 5.9 percent to a high of 492.6 rupees.
HUL sells brands such as skin fairness cream Fair and Lovely, as well as Dove and Lux soaps and has a huge distribution network stretching thousands of supermarkets and small retailers across India.
The company said in a statement that sales of personal care products climbed 12 percent in the quarter from a year ago, soaps and detergents rose 13 percent and food items increased 15 percent.