HUL slips as Unilever sees slowdown in emerging markets

Hindustan Unilever fell 1.94% to Rs 615.25 at 12:06 IST on BSE after parent company Unilever warned that emerging markets slowdown has accelerated.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 90.05 points, or 0.46%, to 19,469.82.

On BSE, 1.41 lakh shares were traded in the counter compared with average volume of 3.23 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 630 and a low of Rs 607.05 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 725 on 24 July 2013. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 432.25 on 7 March 2013.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 30 September 2013, sliding 0.18% compared with the Sensex's 4.08% rise. The scrip had, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 7.24% as against Sensex's 0.08% decline.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 216.26 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever Plc warned on Monday, 30 September 2013, that a slowdown in its emerging markets accelerated in the July-September quarter and it now expects underlying sales growth of just 3% to 3.5% in the period as against estimates of 6%.

Unilever attributed the emerging markets slowdown to a significant currency weakening. Unilever said developed markets remained 'flat to down,' representing no change to its previous forecast.

In April-June quarter, Unilever had reported underlying sales growth of 5% with volume growth of 3%, while Hindustan Unilever's (HUL) domestic consumer business grew at 7% with 4% underlying volume growth.

In July 2013, Unilever hiked its stake in HUL through an open offer at Rs 600 per share. Unilever PLC on 11 July 2013 said that pursuant to the voluntary open offer to increase its stake in HUL, the shareholders of HUL tendered a total of 31.99 crore shares, out of which 31.95 crore shares have been accepted by Unilever PLC on completion of the verification of the shares tendered. Based on the shares tendered which represent 14.78% of HUL, the Unilever Group's stake in HUL increased to 67.26% from 52.48%.

HUL's net profit declined 23.4% to Rs 1019.25 crore on 7% growth in net sales to Rs 6687.49 crore in Q1 June 2013 over Q1 June 2012.

HUL is India's largest FMCG company in terms of sales with over 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers.

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