HUL for another round of price hikes in April: Check details here

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has once again increased the prices of its products in April.

The FMCG major has hiked prices, in the range of 3-20 per cent, across skin cleansing and detergents.

The sharpest increase was seen in Dove and Pears soap bars, which was to the tune of 20 per cent. The 25 gm stock-keeping unit pack prices of both Dove and Pears have been raised from Rs 10 to Rs 12. The price of the Lifebuoy bundle of four soaps (125 gms each) has gone up from Rs 124 to Rs 136.

Other products that have witnessed a price hike are Wheel detergent 500 gm and one kg packs from Rs 32 to Rs 33 and Rs 63 to Rs 65, respectively, according to a source in the know.

It has also increased the price of Vim Liquid 500 ml pouch, which was earlier priced at Rs 99 to Rs 104. An email sent to HUL received no response.

The company has been hiking prices across its portfolio as raw material rates continue to remain elevated. The maker of Lux resorted to increasing prices from the October-December quarter of FY21.

In February, the company raised prices across various products in more than one tranche. It was in the range of 3-13 per cent in order to cushion the blow of high raw material prices. In February, it hiked prices across various products, which include Lux, Lifebuoy, Dove Shampoo, Kissan Jam, Horlicks, Pepsodent, Surf Excel and Vim Bar.

After announcing the October-December results of FY22, Ritesh Tiwari, chief financial officer (CFO) and executive director, finance and IT, told investors on a conference call, “We continue to step up pricing through calibrated actions using net revenue management or the science of pricing.” Tiwari also said, in a press conference post its results that almost 30 per cent of the company’s business came from packs that had prices like Rs 1, Rs 5, and Rs 10. In these packs, HUL preferred to reduce the weight instead of increasing prices. This resulted in a volume decline despite selling the same number of units.

 Axis Capital, in its preview report on HUL, for the quarter ended March, said its volume growth will witness a drag due to rural slowdown and price hikes. The brokerage expects the FMCG major’s volumes to be at -1 per cent.

Emkay said in its preview on the company that it expects HUL’s sales growth to increase by 10 per cent, largely driven by pricing.