Mumbai: Hindustan Lever Ltd proposes to change its name to Hindustan Unilever Ltd. The board of directors of the FMCG major has approved the change of name to Hindustan Unilever Ltd from Hindustan Lever Ltd. HLL''s shareholders will consider the proposal at the next annual general meeting due on May 18.

The proposed name change would provide the optimum balance between maintaining its heritage and the future benefits and synergies of global alignment with the corporate name of Unilever, the company said in the filing.

The company would retain Hindustan to reflect its continued commitment to local economy, consumers and customers and employees, while the parent name Uniliver would add synergy in the global context.

Harish Manwani, chairman and president, Unilever Asia, said, through a regulatory statement to the stock exchanges, "The name change is a significant milestone. It retains the company''s continued commitment towards local roots while leveraging the global scale and reputation of Unilever with its consumers and other stakeholders in India."

The board of directors at its meeting also discussed the sale of the company''s marine products manufacturing business to one or more subsidiaries on a going basis.

A proposal for transfer of the undertaking of the company engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of marine products (including manufacturing facilities for (i) surimi crabsticks, crabclaws, crab chunks and allied products at Chorwad in Gujarat, (ii) fish fillet, crab, octopus, squids and allied products at Kuthiathode in Kerala and (iii) salad shrimps, fish fillets and allied products at Aroor in Kerala) as a slump sale to a suitable party / parties or to one or more of the subsidiaries of the company (if that is required to facilitate the transfer) by way of sale or assignment at such consideration and with effect from such date as the board of directors of the company may think fit, the statement added.

Hindustan Lever has posted a higher pretax profit of Rs570 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 2006, Rs511 crore in the same period last year. The company attributes the performance to the double-digit growth in laundry and toothpaste products.

Net profit for the fourth quarter, however, decreased to Rs511 crore after exceptional items, from Rs521 crore in the year-ago quarter. Fourth quarter sales rose 6.1 per cent at Rs3156 crore, compared with Rs2974 crore a year ago.