HUL shares fall on profit-booking despite smart Q2 numbers

Paring early gains, shares of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Monday closed down by nearly 1 per cent on profit-booking, even as the company reported over 13 per cent rise in net profit for the September quarter.

On Saturday, the company had reported 13.24 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 913.8 crore for the September quarter, up from Rs 806.92 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, the company logged net sales of Rs 6,747.2 crore up from Rs 6,155.41 crore during the same period last year.

HUL, which sells brands like Lux, Dove, Rin and Surf, among others, said it has seen a growth of 10 per cent in revenue terms in its domestic consumer business with underlying volume growth of 5 per cent.

The market growth for the industry is in mid single-digit in revenue terms and the volume growth is very low, the company had said.

After surging 4.33 per cent to Rs 619.95 in intra-day trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange, HUL closed at Rs 589.35, down 0.82 per cent. The stock settled 0.65 per cent lower at Rs 590.10 on the National Stock Exchange.

The broader market was also weak, with the BSE Sensex ending the day 0.55 per cent down at 20,570.28.

With inputs from PTI