NEW DELHI: Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s biggest consumer goods company, on Wednesday reported 28 per cent YoY rise in net profit at Rs 1,326 crore for the December quarter. The number came in better than Rs 1,145 crore estimated by analysts in an ET Now poll.The FMCG major had reported a net profit of Rs 1,038 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.Volume growth for the third quarter came in at 11 per cent, the company said in a BSE filing.”We have delivered another strong performance in the quarter, with broad based growth across categories and further improvement in margins. We remain positive about the mid-term outlook of the industry and will continue to invest strongly in our core brands and developing categories of the future,” said company Chairman Harish Manwani.”There are early signs of commodity cost inflation and we will further sharpen our focus on cost effectiveness programs and manage our business dynamically for competitiveness and sustained profitability.”Sales for the quarter came in at Rs 8,323 crore compared with Rs 8,121 crore in the year-ago quarter.Margins for the quarter expanded to 20.1 per cent. ET Now poll had pegged margins at 19.9 per cent.Most brokerages were expecting Hindustan Unilever to report 9-11 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in sales for December quarter on a 7-9 per cent volume growth. Margins were seen expanding by 150-300 basis points, with profit growth anywhere between 18-27 per cent for the quarter. All eyes were on the management commentary regarding the performance of Lever Ayush and rural recovery, other than volume growth and broader consumer demand environment.