Hindustan Unilever shares drop over 4% after earnings announcement

New Delhi: Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Thursday dropped over 4 per cent after the FMCG major reported a decline of 3.35 per cent in consolidated net profit in the March quarter.

The stock fell 4 per cent to settle at Rs 2,325.25 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it dropped 4.34 per cent to Rs 2,316.80.

On the NSE, shares of the firm tanked 4.11 per cent to Rs 2,324.

The company's market valuation eroded by Rs 22,767.53 crore to Rs 5,46,338.71 crore.

The stock emerged as the biggest laggard among the Sensex and Nifty firms.

In the equity market, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined 315.06 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 79,801.43. The NSE Nifty went down by 82.25 points or 0.34 per cent to 24,246.70.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd on Thursday reported a decline of 3.35 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,475 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2025 on lower margins.

The company had logged a net profit of Rs 2,561 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

However, revenue from product sales was at Rs 15,416 crore in the March quarter, led by volume growth, up 2.68 per cent from Rs 15,013 crore in the year-ago period.

"HUL reported an Underlying Sales Growth (USG) of 3 per cent and an Underlying Volume Growth (UVG) of 2 per cent," the firm said in its earnings statement.

However, the EBITDA margin, which was at 23.1 per cent, declined 30 bps year-on-year, it added.

HUL's total expenses in the March quarter were Rs 12,478 crore, up 3.12 per cent and total income, which includes other revenue, rose 3.48 per cent to Rs 15,979 crore.

In the March quarter, HUL's revenue from the home care segment grew 1.85 per cent to Rs 5,815 crore on account of price cuts.

"The segment witnessed negative price growth on account of pricing actions taken to pass on commodity-led benefits to consumers," it said.