HUL Stock Declines 3 Per Cent As Company Misses Analysts' Estimates

The FMCG firm reported an increase of 10 per cent sales growth on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in the homecare section, crediting it for the positive contribution to the company's performance

FMCG conglomerate Hindustan Unilever (HUL) witnessed a nearly 3 per cent fall in its shares on Friday. The company, which announced its results a day earlier, failed to woo the investors.

HUL clocked a 6.9 per cent rise in consolidated profit after tax for the June quarter (Q1) FY23-24, with a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,556 crore as compared to Rs 2,391 crore in the same quarter in the previous financial year. The company missed the analysts' estimates for the same.

The FMCG firm reported an increase of 10 per cent sales growth on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in the homecare section, crediting it for the positive contribution to the company's performance, as reported by Moneycontrol.

Rohit Jawa, CEO and managing director of HUL, stressed on the challenges of the operating environment. He said, "In the near-term, FMCG industry will continue to witness rebalancing of price-volume growth equations and a gradual recovery in consumer demand. In this environment we will continue to provide superior value to our consumers and invest behind our brands", as reported by CNBC TV18.

Jawa expressed that the company's focus will be on their current initiatives like digitalisation, sustainability with an aim to delve deeper into these going forward.

On the other hand, sections such as beauty and personal care, food and beverages pulled down the company's growth. While the former delivered 4 per cent growth in sales, the latter managed to contribute growth of 5 per cent in sales. Ice cream consumption in particular was affected by unseasonal rains.

"We lost market share due to competitiveness in the skin cleansing segment. We want to ensure the body wash segment starts growing,” said Ritesh Tiwari, executive director, finance & IT and chief financial officer of HUL.

Analysts at Jefferies noted HUL's growth was majorly affected by local and regional competition, especially in the tea segment, which the company had exited previously during peak inflation, as reported by Business Standard.