Hindustan Unilever Ltd, the Indian unit of Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever Plc, posted a 16 percent jump in third-quarter net profit, but low volume growth and a rise in royalty payments knocked its shares down as much as 5 percent.

India's largest household and consumer goods maker posted net profit of 8.7 billion rupees for the quarter ended December 31, up from 7.5 billion rupees a year earlier.

Analysts had expected net profit of 8.8 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine Estimates.