Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported a 9.3 per cent rise in profit after tax at Rs 1,283 crore for the June quarter, compared with Rs 1,175 crore profit estimate by analysts in an ETNow poll. The FMCG major had reported Rs 1,174 crore profit for the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 9,094 crore, up 4.98 per cent YoY over Rs 8,662 crore reported in the same quarter last year. Volume growth remained flat, the company said in a BSE filing. The company said that sentiment during the quarter was cautious in the run up to GST rollout. It noted that despite high promotional intensity, stock pipelines remained low and varied across categories, channels and geographies. Ebitda margins expanded 160 basis points, the company said. The company was expected not to see GST-related destocking, as severe as witnessed during the demonetisation phase. Analysts noted that while there was no impact on consumer demand during the quarter, destocking by wholesalers was visible. Owing to the fact that the share of wholesale was lower for HUL, the impact was expected to be lesser for HUL against the expectation for many other staple companies. Cost of goods sold fell 75 basis points, while the company maintained advertisement and promotion spends during the quarter. Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) helped drive A&P percentage down by 20 bps and other expenses down by 40 bps, the company said. Ebitda for the quarter rose 14 per cent, it said. Transition to GST was swift and smooth starting from day 1, the company said.