ITC Ltd: ITC Ltd announced on Friday its financial result for the quarter ended March 31. The company reported a net profit of Rs 2669.47 crore in Q4FY17, a 12% jump compared to Rs 2380.68 crore during the same period last year. The company's fourth-quarter revenue stood at Rs 15,000 crore compared to estimates of Rs 11,850 crore. Of the cigar business, in Q4FY17 net independent income stood at Rs 8954.94 crore compared to Rs 8545.46 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 8287.97 crore at Q4FY17, an increase of 8% on a year-on-year basis.
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is the largest FMCG company in India with an inheritance of more than 80 years in India. According to market research data from Nielsen, two out of three Indians use HUL products. It is owned by the British-Dutch company Unilever, which controls a majority stake of 52% in HUL. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning products and personal care products. HUL was formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited and emerged in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited through the merger of Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co. Ltd. and United Traders Ltd. Lever Brothers began their actual operations in India in the summer of 1888, when boxes filled with Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers" were shipped to port of Kolkata and started an era of marketing fast moving consumer goods brand (FMCG) HUL works to create better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and make more profit from life with brands and services. With more than 35 brands covering 20 different categories, such as soap, detergents, shampoos, skin care products, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, water purifiers, etc., the company is part of the everyday life of millions of consumers across India. Its portfolio includes leading brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond, Vaseline, Lakme, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent, Close Up, Ax, Brook Bond, Bru, Knorr , Kissan, Kwality Wall's and Pureit. The company has more than 16,000 employees and has an annual turnover of about Rs.19400 brokers (financial year 2010-2011). In the past two years, HUL has added one million new stores, doubling its coverage and bringing HUL products and services to some of the more remote corners. In India, HUL is known for its tight working capital management and the company has been operating with negative working capital since 2000. But management realized that as competition intensifies, there is still room for improvement operational efficiency and reduce working capital needs. Unilever's Indian companies integrated all aspects of finance, accounting and logistics into one global business function. "Commercial" focused on reducing working capital requirements through innovative management of the supply chain and the use of information technology to improve the efficiency of transactions.