HUL Q3 misses estimates, net profit jumps 13% to Rs 1,616 crore

EBITDA margin stood at 24.9 percent in Q3 December 2019 as compared to 21.4 percent in Q3 December 2018. EBITDA jumped 19.5 percent to Rs 2,445 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Rs 2,046 in Q3 December 2018.

Net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 9,953 crore, up 3.87 percent from Rs 9,582 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, HUL said in a regulatory filing. "Domestic consumer growth was 4 percent with underlying volume growth at 5 percent" in the quarter, it said.

This segment continued its trajectory of good performance with double-digit topline growth. In fabric wash, our focus on core and premiumization continues to yield strong results. During this quarter, we launched Comfort Perfume Deluxe in select geographies. Household Care saw good growth on the back of market development.

It delivered robust growth across categories. Beverages saw broad-based growth in the quarter. Ice cream and frozen desserts sustained focus on distribution expansion and building the innovation pipeline ahead of the season. Foods registered good growth led by activations basis differentiated consumer insights.

The segment was impacted by a higher than expected slowdown to market growth and delayed winter. Hair and Color cosmetics performed well. In the personal wash, negative market growths coupled with the pricing actions to pass on benefits of the lower commodity have impacted topline delivery. Skincare performance was impacted by delayed winter while we saw good growths in the non-winter part of the portfolio. Hair Care registered healthy performance across the portfolio. Oral Care delivered a steady quarter driven by Close Up.

"This quarter witnessed an overall challenging market environment, mainly reflecting a sharp slowdown in rural and discretionary spends. In this tough environment, HUL has delivered a resilient performance which is reflective of the strength of our brands, consistency in strategy and execution prowess," HUL CMD Sanjiv Mehta said.

"Our continued focus on innovation and market development has helped sustain underlying volume growth at a steady 5 percent. We have also delivered a healthy margin improvement," he added.

Shares of HUL ended at Rs 2,034.15, down Rs 24.30, or 1.18 percent on the BSE.