Hindustan Unilever Ltd is ready to announce its third-quarter outcomes on Thursday, however greater than the numbers, traders will search for clues on how India’s consumption story is shaping up after main structural and regulatory adjustments within the current previous.
THEM is anticipated to put up a revenue after tax of ₹ 2,597 crore and income of ₹16,156 crore within the three months ended December, based on Bloomberg estimates based mostly on 19 analysts who observe the inventory. Within the September quarter, the corporate reported a web revenue of ₹2,694 crore and income of ₹16,034 crore.
The corporate, usually thought of a proxy for consumption in India, made some key adjustments in 2025. The demerger of its ice-cream enterprise Kwality Wall’s India Ltd. turned efficient on 1 December. This got here after historic GST fee reforms had been applied on 22 September. About 40% of HUL’s product portfolio shifted to a 5% GST fee following the change.
Priya Nair was appointed the brand new CEO and managing director of HUL from 1 August, succeeding Rohit Jawa. Different administration adjustments included Niranjan Gupta taking on as CFO on 1 November and Vandana Suri named government director of residence care from 1 January.
In September, the corporate mentioned that extended and intense monsoon situations throughout a number of areas had disrupted provide chains and quickly dampened demand within the second quarter. Buyers will count on updates on whether or not these disruptions have settled and if the GST fee cuts have pushed consumption as anticipated.
“Shoppers are more and more upgrading to premium manufacturers because the price-value proposition versus mass merchandise has improved,” analysts at ICICI Securities mentioned. This might assist HUL due to its presence within the premium market, they added.
Rural, city markets
Stakeholders are additionally monitoring the progress of the financial restoration within the nation. Whereas the corporate had talked about stronger rural progress post-pandemic, the administration indicated that it has not seen main ups and downs in rural or city markets within the September quarter.
The outcomes will point out how the center class is reacting to rising costs. City inflation climbed to 2.03% in December from 1.40% in November and a low of 0.88% in October 2025.
An prolonged winter in north India as a consequence of La Niña, which is commonly related to colder situations, is anticipated to spice up the efficiency of HUL’s winter portfolio. The corporate’s private care manufacturers equivalent to Ponds and Vaseline are anticipated to have benefited from the chilly season, based on analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities.
There are challenges that youthful shopper startups pose to HUL. The buyer big is shedding city and youthful clients to those startups. HUL has been making an attempt to rebrand its iconic manufacturers like “Glow & Beautiful” to enchantment to those clients. Competitors from magnificence and private care specialists equivalent to Nykaa with its personal manufacturers like Dot & Key’s rising.
Nonetheless, uncooked materials costs are anticipated to deliver a beneficial consequence for HUL.
“Decrease costs of crude-based commodities, tea, robusta espresso together with range-bound costs of palm oil might result in steady/marginal enchancment in margins,” analysts at Nomura mentioned forward of the outcomes.
HUL shares had been little modified at ₹2,455 on the NSE at 1.02 pm. The shares have gained about 6.2% over the previous 12 months, with 26 of 37 analysts monitoring the corporate having a ‘purchase’ name on the inventory.