Unilever India Profit Boosted by Ice Cream Spinoff Gain

The Indian unit of Unilever Plc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted purely by a one-off gain from the demerger of its ice-cream business, with consumption recovery yet to lift earnings.

Mumbai-based Hindustan Unilever Ltd.’s net income was 70.8 billion rupees ($782 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 30 billion rupees a year ago, according to an filing Thursday. Although it topped the average analysts’ estimate of 27.7 billion rupees, it was helped by exceptional income of 45.2 billion rupees from Kwality Wall’s spin-off.