Chennai, Oct 19 (IANS): Fast moving consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Thursday said it closed the second quarter of FY24 with a net profit of Rs 2,717 crore.

In a regulatory filing, HUL said for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, it had earned a sales revenue of Rs 15,027 crore (Q2FY23 Rs 14,514 crore) and an after tax profit of Rs 2,717 crore (Rs.2,616 crore).

The company board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per equity share of face value of Re. 1 each for the financial year ending on March 31, 2024.

During the period under review, the company’s cost of materials went down drastically to Rs 4,412 crore from Rs 5,197 crore incurred during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The company’s advertising expenses saw a big jump to Rs 1,720 crore up from Rs 1,041 crore spent during the corresponding period of the previous year.

HUL’s finance cost for the period under review went up to Rs 72 crore from Rs 25 crore during the previous year's corresponding period.

The company said, the urban areas contributed to the growth while the rural areas were largely subdued.