Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Tuesday reported a 9 per cent rise in its standalone net profits for the quarter ended September 30, thus meeting analysts estimates.

The FMCG giant posted a net profit of Rs 2,187 crore against Rs 2,009 crore in the same period of the previous year.

Brokerages such as Axis Securities had forecast that the company would report net profits of around Rs 2,171 crore for the period.

During the quarter, sales at HUL grew 11 per cent to Rs 12,516 crore from Rs 11,276 crore in the year ago period.

However, higher raw material prices impacted its margins which came in at 25 per cent — a 40 basis points fall from 25.4 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

According to Sanjiv Mehta, chairman & managing director, HUL, though the operating environment improved after the second wave, it has also become challenging.

The HUL stock closed lower as investors were disap-pointed by the volume growth which came below the 5-7 per cent growth expected by analysts. Market circles added that profit booking was also responsible for the stock falling almost 7 per cent from the intra-day peak of Rs 2,732.

Nestle profit up 5%

FMCG major Nestle India Ltd on Tuesday reported a 5.15 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 617.37 crore for the third quarter ended September 2021, driven largely by a high single-digit volume and mixed growth in the domestic market across brands.

The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had posted a profit of Rs 587.09 crore in the same period a year ago, Nestle India said in a BSE filing.