Mumbai, Feb. 14: Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) has brought the froth back into the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business by ratcheting up sales by over 11 per cent in 2005 ? a throwback to the days of double-digit growth that hasn?t been seen in the past six years.

Total income rose to Rs 11,365.33 crore in fiscal 2005 from Rs 10,245.79 crore during the previous fiscal.

The company reported an 18 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,408.10 crore for the year ended December 31, 2005 compared with Rs 1,197.36 crore in the previous fiscal.

?Though we expect the margins to remain under strain because of cost pressures, we will continue to neutralise the effect by adopting cost effective measures and possibly raising prices,? said HLL chairman Harish Manwani.

Hindustan Lever has been locked in a grim price war with Procter & Gamble and has had to wrestle with the problem posed by mounting raw material costs and sluggish sales. Yet, it was able to squeeze out a profit in the second quarter ? the first time in several quarters that it managed to do so.

?We have engineered the turnaround by planned price increases coupled with cost saving initiatives, re-launching some core brands and disposing some non-core businesses,? Manwani added.

?We will continue to follow our strategy of focussing on our brand portfolio to sustain market leadership. Under no circumstances will we allow our overall aggregated market share to diminish and will continuously invest in our brands to remain competitive,? Manwani said.

Analysts say the glory days may be returning to the FMCG sector, which is riding on the return of pricing power to the manufacturer and the spinoff benefit from robust GDP growth that has triggered strong consumption demand.

?The decline in HLL?s sales began with the falling GDP growth rate of the country since the FMCG sector is driven by the increase in consumption. If the economy sustains its growth rate, this year should also be a good one for the company,? said an analyst.

Unilever, the parent company, had also returned to profit in the last quarter of the fiscal 2005 which was largely attributed to the strong growth in personal care products in developing and emerging markets.

HLL's profit for the last quarter of the year saw an increase of 56 per cent on the back of higher sales and a one-time income.

Total sales grew by 14.4 per cent with the home and personal care and foods segments growing by 17 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.

The better than anticipated results sent the HLL scrip soaring to a high of Rs 226 ? up almost 10 per cent from the day's low of Rs 206. It closed 7.2 per cent higher at Rs 224 amid hefty volumes of around 78.60 lakh shares. It also topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 172.78 crore.