Unilever's India unit shares fall after quarterly profit miss
Shares in Hindustan Unilever, the Indian unit of UK's Unilever, fell 5% on Thursday, a day after the consumer goods maker reported quarterly earnings below market expectations due to a slowdown in urban sales growth.
For the consumer goods industry, growth in urban pockets - which accounts for two-thirds of Hindustan Unilever's revenue - has lagged the country's rural areas over the last three quarters, squeezing their bottom-lines.
The Dove soap-maker reported on Wednesday after markets close a near-4% fall in second-quarter profit to 26.12 billion rupees ($310.8 million), missing estimates of 26.88 billion rupees, according to data compiled by LSEG.
"A visible recovery remains elusive," Antique Stock Broking analyst Abhijeet Kundu wrote in a note on Thursday. "We are disappointed (after expecting better sales volume growth)."
Sales volumes rose 3% during the quarter.
Up to Wednesday's close, Hindustan Unilever shares had remained largely flat this year. They were down 5.3% at 2,517.75 rupees at 0956 IST on Thursday.
