India’s Hindustan Unilever has posted a 13.3% rise in net sales for 2007 thanks in part to broad growth across its food business.
The company, which is 51% owned by Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever, saw its food sales grow 20.2% last year.
A strong performance by Knorr soup since its relaunch in India, and the merger of the Modern Foods business, helped the figures but chairman Harish Manwani warned of ongoing cost pressure.
“We recognise the challenge of inflationary pressures and, in a competitive context, sustaining cost leadership across the extended supply chain continues to be a key priority,” Manwani said.
The company saw its net profit rise 3.8% on the year although it insisted that comparisons with 2006 were difficult as those numbers were boosted by a disposal.

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By GlobalDataHindustan Unilever only disclosed percentage-growth figures in its announcement.