Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) climbed over 2% on Wednesday after the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company delivered robust top and bottom line performance in the June quarter. The earnings were boosted by broad-based growth across all verticals, led by healthcare, and beauty and personal care segments.
Extending gains for the second straight session, the share price of HUL opened marginally higher at ₹2,579, against the previous closing level of ₹2,566 on the BSE. During the session so far, the index heavyweight gained as much as 2.02% to hit an intraday high of ₹2,617.75 apiece on the BSE. In comparision, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 735 points higher at 55,502 levels, with 28 out of 30 constituents, barring M&M and Sun Pharma, in green.
On the volume front, there was a surge in buying as 0.82 lakh shares worth ₹21.35 crore changed hands over the counter as compared to the two-week average volume of 1.87 lakh scrips. The market capitalisation of HUL, the country’s fifth most valued firm, rose to ₹6.1 lakh core.
The FMCG giant on Tuesday reported an 11.06% year-on-year (YoY) increase in profit after tax at ₹2,289 crore in Q1FY23, compared with ₹2,061 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenues from operations grew 19.48% YoY to ₹14,016 crore as against ₹11,730 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
During the quarter under review, the company notched a volume growth of 6%, while EBITDA margin dropped 110 basis points (bps) YoY to 23.2% due to inflationary headwinds.
“The difference between PAT (before exceptional items) and PAT growth is largely due to an one-off prior period tax credit we had in base period. We continue to manage our business dynamically driving savings harder across all lines of P&L and taking calibrated pricing actions using the principles of net revenue management. We continue to invest competitively behind our brands,” the company said in its earnings report.
Commenting on Q1 earnings, Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and managing director, HUL, says, “In an environment which remains challenging, marked by unprecedented inflation and consequential impact on consumption, we have delivered yet another quarter of robust topline and bottom-line performance. We have grown competitively whilst protecting our business model by maintaining margins in a healthy range.”
Going ahead, the recent softening of commodities, forecast of a normal monsoon, and fiscal measures taken by the government augur well for the FMCG industry, he says. “We are confident of the medium to long term prospects of the Indian FMCG sector and remain focused on delivering a consistent, competitive, profitable, and responsible growth.”
The company also announced key changes to its management committee. The company has appointed Yogesh Mishra as executive director, supply chain, HUL and head–supply chain, Unilever South Asia, with effect from September 1, 2022. Yogesh takes over from Willem Uijen who has been elevated as the chief procurement officer for Unilever, globally.
