Hindustan Lever Ltd on Thursday reported a fall of 22.9 per cent in its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2004 at Rs 294.88 crore (Rs 2.95 billion) as compared to Rs 382.92 crore (Rs 3.83 billion) for the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The total income has fallen to Rs 2,424.69 crore (Rs 24.25 billion) from Rs 2,519.38 crore (Rs 25.19 billion) in the previous fiscal.

The company said the drop in the net profit was due to interest payable on debentures and lower financial income.

The profit after tax before exceptional items was Rs 303 crore (Rs 3.03 billion), the company said in a statement.