India's consumer major Hindustan Unilever Ltd. beat analyst EPS expectations in the second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30.

The company reported diluted EPS of 7.04 Indian rupees, beating the S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for GAAP EPS of 6.72 rupees.

Net profit for the quarter was 15.25 billion rupees, up 20% year over year from 12.76 billion rupees.

For the quarter, the Indian company's sales of products amounted to 91.38 billion rupees, up from 81.99 billion rupees in the same period a year ago.

Hindustan Unilever said it acquired the ice cream and frozen desserts business from Vijaykant Dairy and Food Products Ltd. during the quarter.

The company's board also declared an interim dividend of 9 rupees per share for the year ending March 31, 2019.

For the quarter, the Mumbai-based group's segments of home care, personal care, foods and refreshments all recorded revenue growth.

As of Oct. 11, US$1 was equivalent to 73.92 Indian rupees.