Hindustan Unilever Limited (HINDUNILVR) Q3 FY2026 Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the Hindustan Unilever Limited Conference Call for the results of the quarter ended 31st December 2025. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Yogesh Mulgaonkar, Head of Investor Relations and Head of Finance, Personal Care. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Dorvin. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the conference call of Hindustan Unilever Limited. This evening, we will be covering the results for the quarter ended 31st December 2025. On the call with me is Priya Nair, CEO and Managing Director; and Niranjan Gupta, our CFO. We will start with prepared remarks from Priya and Niranjan. We expect this to take around 20 minutes, leaving us with approximately an hour for the Q&A session. We will look forward to end the call at 5:15. Before we get started with the presentation, I would like to draw your attention to the safe harbor statement included in the presentation for good order sake. With that, over to you, Priya.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us on the call today. I will begin by outlining the operating context for the quarter, followed by our performance highlights and key actions that we executed during this period. Subsequently, Niranjan will take you through our in-quarter results and conclude with the outlook. As we look at the operating environment for the quarter, we are seeing a steady improvement in underlying demand. Lower inflation over the last few months, especially the meaningful easing in food inflation has supported the stability. Consumer confidence, as evidenced by the RBI consumer survey is also seeing a consistent improvement, signifying a recovery in consumer sentiment and willingness to spend. Macro policies remain supportive with the RBI implementing its fourth repo rate cut over the past year. Following the rollout of GST 2.0 last quarter, prices have now stabilized in the market. Both of these developments are expected to improve disposable income and boost consumption going forward. The input cost landscape has, however, remained volatile. Depreciating rupee increased cost pressure on imported materials, while commodity trends remain divergent. Palm oil, though stable in recency, is inflationary if viewed over a longer term. Tea has been deflationary for the season, but plainer showed mild inflation this quarter. Crude-linked derivatives like kerosene and benzene have been benign to deflationary, but non-feedstock commodities and sulfuric acid are inflating, impacting our Home Care portfolio. Given the evolving geopolitical dynamics, we will continue to closely monitor currency and commodity movements and take calibrated price increases wherever necessary while continuing to drive strong savings delivery to minimize impact to consumers. In this backdrop, we delivered an underlying sales growth of 5%, driven by an underlying volume growth of 4%. This growth was broad-based with all categories contributing and it was competitive as we continue to gain turnover-weighted market shares. As you are aware, we have completed the demerger of the Ice Cream business this quarter. The numbers on the slide reflect performance of the continuing business, excluding Ice Cream. EBITDA at INR 3,788 crores, was up 3% year-on-year, while EBITDA margin at 23.3%, was within the range that we have previously guided to. Profit after tax before exceptional items at INR 2,562 crores, grew by 1% year-on-year. Reported profit after tax for the period at INR 6,603 crores, grew 121% year-on-year. This includes several one-off impacts arising from the Ice Cream demerger and OZiva fair valuation in the quarter. It also includes the base effect of the income from the sale of the water business in December quarter 2024. Niranjan will double-click on the financials later in the presentation. In our last earnings call, I had outlined the key strategic priorities that will shape the organization's agenda moving forward. We are reshaping the engines of growth with one clear goal, competitive volume-led revenue growth fueled by desire at scale. Our 4 priorities reflect this ambition: consumer segmentation with deeper precision; crafting brands that are modern and have stronger relevance; future-proofing our frontline marketing and sales engine; and doubling down on fewer bigger bets to accelerate growth. I will talk about a few examples from the actions that we have already taken in our pursuit to drive this agenda. Let me first take an example on how we are building SASSY brands. The term SASSY stands for 5 pillars that guide our product, development, marketing, consumer engagement and persuasion models. The new TRESemme Hydra Matrix range showcases SASSY in action. The product category has category-leading science, backed ingredient polyglutamic acid that delivers 5x more hydration. The campaign has been brought alive through dynamic visual demonstrations and is strengthened by celebrity stylist authority. Its contemporary aesthetics shifts beauty from polished perfection to authentic achievable glamor, while sensorial and immersive storytelling make hydration cues come alive. We are building strong credibility and cultural relevance through diverse gender-inclusive representation and clutter-breaking communication. This is the playbook that will guide all our brands going forward, anchored in deep consumer insight powered by science and designed for strong consumer resonance. We are investing to build the future moats of our marketing and sales engines while rewiring our current moats. On marketing, we are focusing on social-first demand generation while equally ensuring that we continue to leverage traditional media more effectively. Similarly, on sales, we are investing behind fast-growing channels while ensuring we also modernize and step up execution in general trade. Winning in India will always require an and strategy rather than an or strategy. At the forefront of channels of future is quick commerce, the fastest scaling route to market and a structurally critical channel for the future. It is doubling every quarter and reshaping how consumers discover, shop and replenish. While it contributes around 3% of our business today, we expect it to scale meaningfully in the near term. To capture fully this opportunity and lead the channel shift, we have established a dedicated quick commerce organization. In this structure, the quick commerce lead directly reports into the HUL sales head, enabling faster decisions, sharper execution and higher focus on this high-growth channel. In parallel, we are elevating category captaincy through deeper customer partnerships, stronger joint business planning and consistent relevant activations. As quick commerce expands, the operational complexity of serving the channel will increase materially. We are deploying our advanced supply chain capabilities to build an adaptive operating model for this channel. From collaborative forecasting and inventory management to real-time data integration, we are creating a highly agile, efficient and connected supply chain designed for the speed and precision that this channel demands. We are already seeing very encouraging outcomes with service levels improving by 1,400 basis points over the past year and lead time taken from PO generation to servicing reducing by 20%. Our ability at HUL to scale brands and formats and develop markets continues to be one of our strongest competitive advantages. We are leveraging this strength to shape our next engines of growth. Masstige, and within that D2C, is a critical part of our fewer bigger bets agenda, and we are scaling our presence in this segment with speed and intent. We have been expanding our presence both through organic and inorganic routes, leveraging HUL scale to accelerate growth by building a strong D2C playbook that can be replicated across other brands. With Minimalist, we are unlocking the next phase of growth by expanding into offline channels and by realizing synergies through media effectiveness, procurement and manufacturing. OZiva is another such example. The brand has scaled up significantly in the last 3 years, supported by a robust science-backed innovation portfolio. Between these 2 brands, we have now built an ARR of INR 1,100 crores business. With Kissan, we are extending the master brand into newer demand sectors such as chutneys. Based on an internal study, chutneys offer significantly broader consumption potential with nearly 4x as much consumption occasions as ketchup. This represents a significant opportunity to convert scratch cooking moments into branded package formats and thereby unlocking a large runway for growth. Bodywash is a core strategic priority, and we have strong differentiated portfolio across Lux, Pears and Dove that addresses multiple consumer needs across price points. Our sharp execution and sustained brand investment has helped us triple our turnover over the last 3 years and firmly established leadership in this fast-growing category. In laundry powders, while we have enabled a large cohort of consumers to upgrade to premium laundry brands and formats, a significant section of market still continues to use mass powders. To accelerate premiumization here, we have intensified our activations with the INR 99 Surf Excel pack this quarter. With an accessible price point and activations that highlights this, we intend to bring more first-time users into this premium segment and expand the category. Starting January, we have made a few important changes to the HUL organization. The intent is to build a simpler, more agile organization that can execute our priorities with greater speed, accountability and precision. All business unit heads will now directly report to me instead of the earlier dual reporting structure. This will strengthen empowerment, accelerate decision-making and ensure more India for India choices are taken closer to the consumer. There will also be a chief marketing officer appointed under each of the business units, who will play a pivotal role in building desirable brands and landing superior innovation. Aligned with this, Unified India strategy, Unilever R&D organization has also created an India-focused R&D category design and deploy organization. This strengthens our ability to accelerate science-led consumer-centric SASSY innovation, build stronger local design and deploy capabilities while ensuring India R&D stays fully connected with Unilever R&D to leverage the best of global science and technology and global innovations for India. I believe these changes will underpin our growth ambitions by improving agility, driving sharper execution and strengthening the fundamentals that matter for sustained momentum. At the same time, we will continue to maintain an important and mutually interdependent relationship with Unilever and will benefit fully from Unilever's global science, R&D technology platforms, brand trademarks and central services like procurement, manufacturing excellence, to name a few. With that, let me now hand over to Niranjan, who will take you through our in-quarter results in detail.

Thank you, Priya. Good afternoon, everyone. Let me share a detailed overview of our quarterly performance, followed by our outlook. We delivered, as you would have seen through our press release, a revenue growth of 6%, which comprises of 5% underlying sales growth and 4% underlying volume growth for this quarter. Gross margin remained healthy at 50.8%, which was plus 30 basis points year-on-year. The improvement in gross margin majorly reflects positive portfolio mix following the inclusion of Minimalist, which operates at structurally higher margin and was not part of the base. EBITDA margin at 23.3% remains within our guided range, excluding Ice Cream. While absolute A&P increased at 9.4% of turnover, on a bps basis, it was down 30 bps year-on-year due to phasing. If we look at year-to-date level, our A&P remains same as 10% of revenue. We have invested on an absolute basis, INR 185 crores, higher versus last year. And combined with the buying efficiencies we continue to get, the impact is even higher. And we continue to remain competitive in terms of share of voice versus share of market. Overall, EBITDA grew 3% year-on-year, while PAT before exceptional items grew by 1%. This reflects the impact of lower net other income due to softer interest rate combined with lower investable surplus post recent acquisitions and payout of special dividend in November '24. We also accounted for a gratuity impact of INR 113 crores in the quarter, and this was accounted for in the normal items under employee benefit expenses. If you were to add that back, then our EBITDA would grow by 5% and our PAT before exceptional item adjusted for that would grow by 4%. Let me take a couple of minutes to walk you through the bridge from PAT before exceptional item to reported PAT. As I mentioned, PAT BI at INR 2,562 crores grew 1% year-on-year after factoring the gratuity impact. The reported PAT includes the following item. Number one is the impact of increase in fair valuation of OZiva and Minimalist versus exceptional income from sale of Pureit business in the base. The higher fair valuation is a reflection of OZiva and Minimalist continued strong performance over the last year. And the second item is onetime noncash gain arising from Ice Cream demerger accounted for in accordance with the approved scheme of demerger and applicable accounting standards. The detailed amounts on each of these is there in the notes to accounts. Consequently, the reported profit after tax for the period stood at INR 6,603 crores, up 121% year-on-year. Moving on to our segment-wise performance for the quarter. Home Care posted mid-single-digit UVG on a base of high single-digit UVG. USG at 3% reflects the continued impact of price reductions, which were taken previously, which would get anniversarized by June quarter. The segment fundamentals remain strong, underpinned by superior products, robust brand equity and market development actions. As a result, the segment has continued to gain market share and has achieved its highest ever market share, further strengthening our leadership position. Fabric Wash within this delivered competitive mid-single-digit UVG while Household Care continued its strong momentum, delivering double-digit UVG. Our liquids portfolio, spanning laundry liquids, fabcon and dishwash liquids accelerated its growth trajectory, recording strong double-digit growth driven by market development actions taken by us. While UVG for the segment remains negative due to pricing actions taken during the year -- and as you heard from Priya, we are taking calibrated price increases given currency depreciation and sustained inflationary pressure in non-feedstock commodities. Moving on, Beauty & Wellbeing delivered 6% USG, driven by outperformance in Hair Care and Health & Wellbeing. Hair Care delivered double-digit growth, supported by high single-digit UVG. The growth was led by outperformance in premium brands such as Dove and TRESemme. We also continued to strengthen our market-leading position during the quarter. In Skin Care and Color Cosmetics, winter portfolio continued its strong performance led by Vaseline. The winter portfolio delivered double-digit growth for the entire season, which includes part of September quarter as well. This was offset by a weaker performance in the non-winter portfolio. Driven by our focused efforts to deseasonalize the moisturizers category, our light moisturizing portfolio comprising Ponds and Lakme recorded double-digit growth. Our decisive investments in channels of the future continues to unlock strong double-digit growth this quarter, while we continue to strengthen our market share. Health & Wellbeing posted another quarter of robust performance with high double-digit growth. On-trend science-backed innovations remain a key growth engine for us, enabling differentiated product superiority and greater consumer trust. Personal Care delivered 6% USG led by double-digit growth in premium Skin Cleansing and Oral Care. Skin Cleansing posted mid-single-digit growth, driven by outperformance in our premium brands, Pears and Dove. We continue to reinforce our market leadership with double-digit growth in Body Wash, another category where we are accelerating our market development activities. Oral Care delivered double-digit growth, supported by both price and volume. During the quarter, we further expanded our freshness portfolio with Closeup Intense Cool formulated with zinc and cooling beads for an instant burst of long-lasting freshness. Our Deodorant segment has grown in double digits, albeit on a small base. As official sponsors of ICC Women's Cricket, Rexona continues to champion for and elevate female athletes, providing a platform to encourage young women to participate in sports break barriers and pursue their potential. Moving on to Foods. Foods delivered 6% USG. This performance was broad-based and driven by high single-digit UVG. Within this, Tea delivered mid-single-digit UVG. Revenue recorded low single-digit growth, which reflects the impact of price reductions taken in a deflationary commodity environment earlier. Coffee continued its strong momentum of double-digit growth, supported by both price and volume. Lifestyle Nutrition grew high single digits, driven by Boost and Horlicks both. As market leaders in this segment, we remain committed to our initiatives towards increasing consumption. In this quarter, we continued to modernize the Horlicks brand and strengthen its relevance with consumers through the launch of Horlicks Superfoods in 2 states. Horlicks Superfoods brings together our proprietary Nutrimax technology, which enhances nutrient absorption and super foods that support cut health and immunity. We also introduced a Zero Added Sugar variant with no artificial sweeteners or added sugar aligned with emerging nutrition and wellness trends. Through this relaunch, we are combining the trusted taste of Horlicks with advanced science and modern nutrition. Packaged Foods delivered high single-digit UVG. The performance was supported by ketchup, Mayonnaise, soups and Unilever Food Services. We continue to deliver strong competitive double-digit growth in modern trade and e-commerce. Coming to portfolio transformation, an update on the transformation agenda. With Minimalist, our current focus is to unlock the next phase of growth for the brand by realizing synergies. For instance, we already expanded the brand into 25,000-plus offline stores from 3,000 since acquisition. We've also seen a marked improvement in brand awareness and media effectiveness as we move to a full funnel marketing playbook. Lastly, we are also leveraging HUL technology to support creation of a robust pipeline of meaningful innovations. As a result of these actions, the brand has delivered strong double-digit growth in the quarter. In line with our strategy of focusing on fewer and bigger bets, the Board of Directors approved the acquisition of remaining 49% stake in OZiva at an investment of INR 824 crores. The brand has scaled up significantly in the last 3 years, driven by a steady flywheel of innovation and effective digital-first demand generation. The Health & Wellbeing segment presents significant headroom for growth, and we will strengthen our participation here through OZiva. Continuing with our intent of sharpening portfolio, we have decided to divest our minority stake in Nutritionalab Private Limited. We are selling this stake to USV Private Limited for a consideration of INR 307 crores. We also recently concluded the Ice Cream demerger process in December. With a dedicated management team and singular focus, we are confident that KWIL is well positioned to capitalize on the growing market opportunity in India and deliver sustained performance. The KWIL listing, as you would have seen from the BSE notice, will be listed on 16th of February. We continue to evaluate and transform our portfolio on an ongoing basis to ensure we are focusing on investing disproportionately in high-growth demand spaces. Now coming to outlook. As you could see from our quarter results, it reflects a step-up in growth, and we are moving with speed on our strategic priorities. Our growth has also been broad-based as reflected by growing all the segments and across our portfolio. Looking ahead, we expect the operating environment to remain conducive for a sustained recovery in consumption. Coupled by our internal actions, which has been outlined by Priya just now, we expect growth in financial year '27 to be better than financial year '26. Growth will continue to remain our #1 priority. We will invest in the business as needed to support sustained growth. And hence, we expect consolidated EBITDA margin to stay around the guided range. With this, we conclude our prepared remarks, and I'll now hand back to Yogesh to commence the Q&A session.

Thank you, Priya and Niranjan. With this, we now move to the Q&A. [Operator Instructions] In addition to the audio, our participants have an option to post the questions through the web option on your screen. We will take those questions just before we end. With that, I would like to hand the call back to Dorvin to manage the next session for us.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from the line of Manoj Menon from ICICI Securities.

Good performance and more importantly, good commentary. I just want to double-click on the comments, honestly, the positive comments from HUL after a fairly long period of time. You did allude to the macro factors and some internal actions you have taken in the presentation as well. Just a couple of points beyond that, if you could just help us understand. One, let's say, what's the tonnage growth within UVG? Are you finding early signs to, let's say, have a forecast of 2H better than 1H in FY '27 -- FY '26 based on your internal green shoots or, let's say, inferences or analysis? Point number two, are there any early signs of elasticity gains which you're finding in the, let's say, if I can call it discretionary part of your, let's say, staples portfolio. The reason I'm asking is simply because there are certain parts of the portfolio where the replacement cycle is probably 3 months or higher. So that extent is just an assessment at this point. Just if you could elaborate more on the optimism, that would be super helpful.

Yes, I can start and then -- thanks, Manoj -- and then, of course, Niranjan will add. I think firstly, what I want to say is that we've outlined 2 real key areas of the reason why we believe we're beginning to see the gradual improvement in our performance. The first is the macro conditions, as we mentioned, right? I think that is very critical as well to understand that a company of our scale and size that spans across the length and breadth where we reach 9 out of 10 consumers, the macro conditions indeed play a significant role, whether it is the lower inflation, the more liquidity in the market, overall consumer sentiment change indeed makes a huge difference along with all the reforms that have happened in the country. This plays a big role. But coupled with that is the actions that we have taken, and these are -- whether it is in the fewer bigger bets that I called out, the sharper segmentation of our portfolio or the double down in our channel capabilities, continuing strength in general trade while improving our strength and our resource allocation towards the future channels. This, combined with our continued portfolio transformation is indeed the reason why we have -- we are beginning to see this acceleration. And this is where we will keep doubling down, on driving volume-led revenue growth. Our UVG for the quarter is the highest UVG that we have recorded in the last 12 quarters. So this bodes well for us, and this is where we will keep focusing. And Niranjan, if you would like to add?

No, absolutely, Priya. And on the macro factors, if I just add, like what you said, even the union budget, which is focusing on more investment-led growth and focus on manufacturing and employment, even that augurs well moving forward over a long term on the consumption part of it.

Just a couple of things I was just trying to get was, are you finding actually, let's say, in categories where -- which are, let's say, mass market oriented, you're finding tonnage growth also giving you that confidence? And secondly, as you see early signs, elasticity gains as well from the price cut?

Yes. Actually, our growth is quite broad-based, so I think that's the best way to see it, is across our categories, whether it is Home Care, Personal Care, Foods or Beauty & Wellbeing what we feel happy about is the growth is broad-based, Manoj.

And the second question is there is -- there's a mention about category partnership with the q-commerce players. And interestingly, all 3 of them are mentioned there. Is there anything more you could tell us quantitatively and qualitatively what does it mean? The reason I'm asking because -- one example which comes to my mind is probably 20, 30 years back, Procter & Gamble used to have a partnership with Walmart, which included a lot of data sharing, which actually helped both the parties. Is it -- what sort of magnitude we could think of this partnership? What does it mean for Unilever and also for those players, predominantly for Unilever from your side?

Fair enough. So firstly, what I want to say is we are in an omnichannel environment in India. And all our channels are critical to us, right, especially given the scale of HUL and the number of brands we have even in a single category portfolio, it is important that we win across channels. And in India, all channels grow. What is true is that the new channels grow faster, of course, the quick commerce growth is more at this moment of time. And that's the reason why we are doubling down behind that. But it's also because, as you mentioned and you alluded to, the capabilities that you require for each channel are different, and we are doubling down to build the capabilities for each channel. So as regards to quick commerce, what we have done is that we have set up a new organization for quick commerce. It is now 3% of our business, growing almost 100% quarter-on-quarter. And we are stepping up investments, not just in people dedicated to the channel, but also in bespoke supply chain, tech and digital marketing capability. Our partnerships, like you were saying, Manoj, are really working with these partners because the data system exchange that we can now do to enable stronger forecasting and really deeper platform exchange that we can have is ensuring that we drive up our availability, which in quick commerce is very key to success. And this is -- we are happy to see the early joy because we have seen 1,400 basis points of improvement in availability over this period as we have made -- put these changes into place. So it's absolutely partnership, which is data-based, but much more than that as well. Maybe I'll just add one thing, sorry, Manoj. It also gives the opportunity to innovate now for SKUs, brands and really segment our portfolio into the channel. So yes, that's what I wanted to add.

Our next question is from the line of Abneesh Roy from Nuvama.

My first question is on Beauty & Wellbeing. So I see 2 different pools of performance. So Hair Care, double-digit growth, largely volume-led. While if I see Skin Care and Color Cosmetics, you have called out that ex of the winter portfolio, it has been a bit weak. Is there any takeaway from Hair Care, which can be taken to Skin Care and Color Cosmetics? And is the D2C competition much higher in Skin Care and Color Cosmetics? Is that the reason?

Yes. I think, firstly, let me comment on our Hair Care business. We are distinct leaders in Hair Care, Abneesh. We have very strong positions and really straddle the pyramid right from now Nexxus at the top of the pyramid, which we brought in recently from our Unilever stable, Dove, TRESemme to Clinic Plus at the bottom. And really, we have been driving over time. I mean it's -- when it's -- at HUL, we have done -- drove -- driven premiumization, develop the market. We are the leaders of conditioners. That's really our playbook of success. And our playbook is well written and continues to play out for us in Hair Care. In Skin Care, we've actually had a story of 2 halves, as we mentioned. Our winter portfolio, we have had over the season, a very strong double-digit performance. Our summer portfolio has been relatively challenged. It's been a very harsh winter. And whether it's talcum powder, sunscreens or our mass skin brightening portfolio, this has been relatively challenged in the quarter. We believe this will bounce back as the season comes. And really, now we have a portfolio even in Skin Care, which spans from Minimalist simple at the top of the pyramid to Vaseline, Lakme, Ponds in the middle to Glow & Lovely at the bottom. So we now feel like we have the portfolio of brands, and we have built our -- also the segments in which we play from moisturizers, mass skin brightening, sunscreens, serums, we now have the entire play of segments and demand spaces across Skin Care as well. And that's what we will double down. Very simply, what is being built at the top end of India amongst the top 80 million to 100 million consumers with the skin care marketing segmenting, our opportunity will be to democratize this at scale, and this will be our focus going forward.

Sure. My second question is on the overall strategy. Two parts to that. One is you called out fewer bigger bets multiple times. So I wanted to understand any more portfolio rationalization? Is it under consideration? And what was the thought process when HUL had acquired, say, 3 years back, Nutritionalab? And within 3 years, what changed? Was growth the challenge? Because it was such a small acquisition, you could have continued to hold it on and then see. Why within 3 years? Because in 3 years, we never see HUL do this kind of a change. And second, on your question of direct -- on your new step of direct reporting of category head, any other big global market of Unilever, has it seen a similar change? And when and how do you see this impacting growth for HUL in India?

So Abneesh, what I'll do, I'll pick up the portfolio part of it and Priya, organization part, I'll let her answer. So on the portfolio, Abneesh, what -- the theme of sharpening portfolio, rotating it continuously, that will continue because this is a dynamic world. And therefore, what we do is you put money on bets and then you see which one you need to double down. Actually, I would say that we are being very swifter in our action and more decisive in terms of moving forward. So like OZiva, as you heard, has done exceedingly well. We had put money in both OZiva and WBN at that point in time. We saw OZiva, we had acquired 51%. So we decided now to double down on OZiva and put the money there and move decisively with that. Now it doesn't mean that we will not do any bolt-on acquisition in this category. We'll do. But we'll continue to rotate the portfolio and be very decisive and swift in our actions that we do. This is a minority stake, and therefore, we decided to divest. So nothing to do with the performance of the WBN as such. Yes, on the organization bit.

Yes. As regards to the organization, I think our focus firstly is to simplify the organization and create speed and agility for the organization. And that's really our focus. We announced -- we had a dual reporting structure. What we have moved to is a simplified reporting structure that does -- and we continue to benefit from all the advantages we have as a global corporation, whether it is in technology, R&D, the brands, trademarks that we enjoy as a global corporation with a simplified speed of decision-making and agility. And that's really our focus. Of course, HUL is a listed entity, and we've always had, with HUL, the CEO of HUL taking decisions. We have just simplified the organization for speed and decision-making.

Our next question is from the line of Arnab Mitra from Goldman Sachs.

I had a couple of questions. My first question was, you mentioned in your outlook, you expect a better FY '27 compared to '26. Should we expect this to be a consistent improvement trend starting from what we delivered in December quarter? Or there could be ups and downs in the path? Why I asked this question specifically is we are not sure if there was any restocking benefit in this quarter. Also the base was quite low for this quarter. So just trying to understand how we should think about a consistent improvement from here on.

Yes. So firstly, Arnab, the way you should think about the guidance we have given is second half of '26 will be better than the first half of '26 and '27 will be better than '26. So that's the guidance that we are providing. When it comes to this quarter for you to -- the way you should think about this quarter, October, we continued -- and we had guided you in the previous quarter that we continue to see some transitionary effects of GST. We have seen the restocking into November. But the way to look at it overall in this quarter is that you see this quarter as normal as regards to GST, and that's really our guidance.

Got it. My second question was on Home Care. So I was -- if you look at the Home Care numbers now for a pretty extended period of time, USG has been below UVG. Now you did mention pricing as a lever as commodities have gone up a bit. But is that pricing being negative for an extended period of time, largely that? Or is it a lot to do with also competition and in that context, the shift towards liquids, is it a headwind or a tailwind for pricing given that it's a more premium format, and we are seeing a sharp shift? So again, if you could help us understand the moving parts on pricing and therefore, can that move positive going head?

Yes. I think firstly, on our Home Care performance, the first thing I want to mention is that we are at a highest ever recorded share of Home Care as we stand in this quarter. So for us, that's been a good milestone. Our focus in Home Care and your -- we continue to have good mid single-digit UVG. The pricing has been benign, and that is a bit linked to commodities, but a bit linked to competitive pressure. We are seeing some nonfeedstock commodities now inflate, and we mentioned that, and we've already begun to price in Home Care, and we will continue, albeit low single-digit pricing, but we will continue to price in Home Care gradually staying competitive. As regards our overall liquid strategy, liquid firstly is at a price premium to powder. This augurs well for us. We are the leaders of liquids. Our biggest focus is on market developing liquids to scale. Still only in India, 7% of the market is liquid. There's a huge headroom to grow. And this is our focus to really grow liquids substantially and market develop the liquids category as the leader of Home Care, there is still also significant headroom in powders. There's still a very large tonnage of mass powders in the country and continuing to premiumize the powder category is a key focus for us as well. So actually, the other thing I think worth mentioning is that we will begin to anniversary going into next quarter, the pricing -- competitive pricing decisions we had to take, and that augurs well for pricing growth coming into next quarter for Home Care.

The next question is from the line of Latika Chopra from JPMorgan.

My first question was on pricing itself, but at an aggregate portfolio. You just mentioned Home Care could see some bit of pricing coming back. But when you look at the rest of your portfolio, if you could share color on how you expect price growth to play out in the coming quarters given some of the other commodities are relatively benign?

Yes. So if you look at the commodities, you have a divergent trend, you have -- you heard all the crude base, crude sequentially is up. You can see that nonfeedstock on the crude, they have gone up. We also see palm, which is stable to inflationary. Pea, which was deflationary is also showing signs from the planers moving up. So while we don't see a hyperinflation, but we do see a stable to an inflationary kind of stuff coming back. And therefore, while I would not guide for a quarter. But overall, for the year, if you look at it, we do expect a low single-digit price increases over the year.

Understood. The second question I had was on specific segments. The first one was Personal Care, where you saw mid-single-digit growth of skin cleansing. Just wanted to understand the way the quarter progressed, do you expect that the volume growth has potential to accelerate here sequentially as some of the GST rate cut benefits start to flow fully from Q4 onwards? And if you could also comment on competitive dynamics and market share trends for key brands in this portfolio?

So if you look at it, skin cleansing, firstly, within skin cleansing, our premium brands have been growing very well, double digits. So we have Dove, we have Pears and therefore, that augurs very well for the mix of the portfolio. And as far as the GST-led benefits are concerned, see, the GST-led benefits will pan out over a long period of time, not just on skin cleansing, but on across the GST portfolio, which happened because overall, it leads to an increase in the consumer confidence, consumer sentiment and over a long term, consumption increases do happen. So you will see a long-term benefit coming out and not a short-term price based on GST.

Yes. I'm just trying to understand whether the restocking benefits are still to show up in the numbers? Or they were already there in November and December?

So the December quarter, you can assume that all the benefits have come in. And also because it came in November itself, it can be treated as a normal quarter of growth as a platform for future.

All right. And just lastly, sorry to include, but on Nutrition, Horlicks saw high single-digit growth. I just wanted to understand how sustainable this is and the confidence on growth revival here? And if you could share some of the key interventions which seem to be working for you?

Yes. So Latika, this is firstly our third consecutive quarter of positive UVG on our Lifestyle Nutrition business. So we see that there is much more work ahead, but we are in the right direction and trend. Overall Boost, which is 20% of our business has been growing strong double digits. Horlicks has done very well this quarter, and we are both in terms of correcting our price pack architecture, which was a challenge for us. But we have also relaunched Horlicks in 2 states with Horlicks Superfoods and the proposition really has a technology, which is the NutriMax technology that allows for much better nutrient absorption. And we have also launched a Horlicks no-added-sugar variant which uses a technology to enhance taste without the addition of sugar or artificial sweeteners. So with this, we are going to roll this out across the country. It's currently gone into 2 states, and this is an area we will keep doubling down. We've also launched Horlicks into the ready-to-drink format. And we really will extend in this manner, the Horlicks nutrition brand into whatever is relevant for consumers.

Our next question comes from the line of Mihir P. Shah from Nomura.

Just a few clarifications. First, post the divestment of the ice cream business, what can be considered as the margin guidance range? It used to be 22% to 23%. So should one expect it to inch up further or are you holding on to that range still?

So our guided range has been that 22% to 23%. We also outlined that the range, therefore, you will see a benefit of the ice cream demerger to the extent of 50 basis points. So basically we remain stayed with this guidance that we have provided.

Sorry, so it should be 22.5% to 23.5%, is that how it should be understood?

Well, that's the implied number.

Understood. Secondly, just wanted to understand the new launch that you highlighted in the Dex business or 99 on Easy Wash pack. What is the grammage here? Is there any price change that we are noticing in this pack?

No. I think the focus of this pack is really to bring the put down price close to the put down price of mass powders with the focus on a monthly consumption pack. So really, that's the focus. It's a new price point at which we have launched an Easy Wash pack, and that's really the focus of this particular packaging.

Understood. Got it. Secondly, just wanted to understand while December quarter is a normalized quarter post the October and the November-December destocking-restocking impact, should one consider in the near term similar growth on volume front to continue or there can be a case for volumes to go down because there is just about a restocking that has happened in November and December? So maybe there can be some softness in the coming quarters?

Yes, we've guided clearly that we see second half to be better than the first half of '26, and we believe '27 will be better than '26, and we'll maintain this guidance.

Got it. And lastly, just wanted to understand if you can help us break down the algo for the double-digit earnings growth that was highlighted earlier? Because low single-digit pricing growth volumes probably where you are and you're holding on to your margin guidance, which is not shifting. So how can one triangulate to the double-digit earnings growth guidance in the coming year?

I think let me just reiterate what we have said is, first of all, growth will continue to remain our #1 priority. And we'll continue to invest whatever it takes to ensure that volume-led growth happens and competitive growth happens. And as far as our margins are concerned, we'll stay within the current guidance. And overall, our guidance for the top line is for fiscal year '27 to be better than fiscal year '26. So as of now, this is what our guided framework is.

Our next question comes from the line of Aditya Soman from CLSA.

So a question on skin care. And I think you briefly responded to this earlier. But when I look at your growth on skin care and cosmetics, let's say, relative to a platform such as Nykaa, we find that the growth is meaningfully lower than the brand and even some of the private brands that they have. Now is this something -- is this largely a function of mass skin care growing slower or is there anything more that we should -- or context in which we should understand these numbers?

Yes. I think it's very important when you look at our skin care business, look at the scale and size and the depth of the portfolio that we have that spans across the country. Our skin -- we are the largest skin care business in the country, spanning from right at the top of the pyramid right up to the mass rural consumer with the brands that we have. I won't comment on what other people's growths are. What I want to say is that what our focus is. So our focus, as I mentioned, and I'll repeat, is we now have a portfolio that spans from the D2C brands like Minimalist at the top, we are building simple, which is our Unilever brand. We always have the optionality of bringing other Unilever brands into our portfolio. We have Lakme, Ponds, Vaseline that play in the middle to the top of the pyramid, and we have Glow & Lovely that plays right up to the bottom of the pyramid. We will keep democratizing new formats and benefits across the length and breadth of India. This as a market leader is our key focus and continue to play with the changing aspirations as consumer aspirations change we will continue to play in each of the segments and demand segments in the country. So that's really our focus in skin care.

No, I understand. And I think the context for my question was actually more from a perspective, are you seeing a difference in -- at price points in terms of the growth? I mean is there -- would it be fair to say that growth at lower price points or at the more mass price points is lower than the premium ones or there isn't that much of a difference?

I think the growth across channels tend to be different because of the size of the channels. I don't want to comment on price points, but it is absolutely correct that you will see channels of the future growing faster than the core channels and consumers across the pyramid. It's very -- it really depends on which geography, which segment so that would not be correct for me to guide you.

Understand. No, that's very clear. And then secondly, on Home Care. So one of the things you indicated was obviously, we are seeing sort of an entry level Surf Excel product also come in at a more affordable price point. But between liquids and powders, are we consistently seeing liquids for the same brand being priced the same or lower if you were to calculate it on a price per use basis? So some of the work that I did suggested that, let's say, for a Surf Excel like-for-like front load or top load machine wash, the price per use on liquid now is lower than powder.

No, the price per use of liquids on average is higher than the price per use of powders. It also depends on the consumption. I think what you're not taking into account is how consumers consume products. The consumption at a minute you move into machine wash is totally different from a bucket wash. The minute you move to liquids is totally different from powders. So I don't want to get into a complex math equation on what it is. But what I want to -- suffice to say is that the price per use of liquids is higher than the price per use of powders.

Our next question comes from the line of Percy from IIFL.

I just wanted to check on the pipeline, both on, not just distributor level, but even retailer level. As of December end, would it have normalized in the sense that would it be at the same level as it was in August end?

Yes, we can safely assume that.

Understood. Understood. And given that October was a bad month for you, but you still did organic growth, excluding Minimalist of like 5% for the quarter, which would mean that November, December is at a higher rate. So should we expect that higher rate of November, December, that kind of run rate to continue for the next few months? Would that be the right way to sort of analyze it?

I think the right way will be to take our overall December quarter numbers as the normalized numbers for the foundation to be taken as a platform for moving forward.

And just clarifying maybe because we saw downstocking in October month, we saw a restocking in November from trade. So therefore, we are seeing that it's a normalized quarter because there is the effect of the down stock, but there's also an effect of the restock and therefore, in a balance between the two, we're being treated as a quarter as normal.

Just help me understand your -- what is really hindering growth? Because we are at, let's say, 3%, 4% volume growth, 5% value growth per capita consumption and incomes in India are so, so much lower developed countries. And if this is the growth that we are seeing, not now, but since a very long time, what really is the missing piece for us to -- in terms of understanding to be bullish on FMCG consumption in India?

Yes. Firstly, I want to say we have delivered our highest ever UVG in the last 12 quarters. And I just want to emphasize that with 6% revenue growth. So that's the first thing I want to emphasize. We are seeing macros overall in the country improving and a company that is as deep and wide as we are in the country, that plays a key role. And we are definitely seeing, as we mentioned, an improvement in macros, whether it is in terms of consumer sentiment or indeed, in all the measures that have been taken. That combined with the steps that we have taken have resulted in this performance for the quarter. And we continue to share the outlook that we had, which is that second half of '26 will be better than first half of '26 and FY '27 will be better than FY '26.

Would it be a stretch for us to expect double-digit top line growth from HUL? And if so, I mean, if that has to happen, what really has to happen? Does the macro have to sort of improve significantly more than what we are expecting it to? Or do you think that it is within the realm of possibility with a gentle improvement in macro plus the steps that you're putting in place to sort of boost the growth at your end? This is something that we can sort of at least have within the scope of imagination.

As of now, what we can say is that, a, the external or macro or the operating environment on economy as well as the consumption scenario is on the improving trend. Equally, our own actions have started to play out based on our strategic priorities. Based on all of that, as of now, what we are guiding is fiscal year '27 to be better than fiscal year '26.

Our next question comes from the line of Harit Kapoor from Investec.

So my first question was on margins. I just wanted to understand why we are still fairly focused on that 12.5% to 13.5% range -- implied range. This quarter, we've done 13.7% if you adjust the labor code, close to 14% in your calculations. Also, you have a situation where there's modest inflation. Historically, HUL or large FMCGs have done well from a profitability standpoint in modest inflation because that's when kind of pricing power kicks in. And hopefully, there is more operating leverage in revenue. So is it -- what am I missing? Is it that reinvestment rates will sharply go up as we focus on growth? This is -- just wanted to understand your thought process here.

As we've outlined already that growth -- top line growth will remain our #1 priority. And within that, our strategy is volume-led growth. So that's why we have prioritized growth over margins, and therefore, margins we have said will remain within the guided range. I would say margin is best to look at EBITDA margin, not to look at a margin, which is a PAT margin because the rest is a derived number.

Yes, I was talking about EBITDA margin only 13.7% is your number after the labor code adjustment...

EBITDA margin -- sorry, if I may correct, our EBITDA margin is 23.3%, which is -- 23.3% after charging the labor code impact of INR 113 crores, yes.

Correct. Correct. What I was trying to -- sorry, what I was trying to say was if I adjust -- if I ex the labor code impact, we are already in high 23s, this quarter and almost 24% this quarter. So the question was, with all these factors, couldn't we land at a higher number, but I got your point. The second one was on the ad spend bit. So if you look at the stand-alone entity, you've seen a little bit of a dip on the absolute ad spend number. Is there something in this quarter that we've spent slightly lower on the core which will adjust going forward, the ad spend number will increase? How should we kind of look at that?

So first of all, we should look at all our numbers on a consolidated basis. Now if you look at a consolidated basis, you're right, as far as quarter A&P is concerned, that looks to be 30 basis points lower. Although on an absolute basis, it's not gone down. Having said that, the best way to look at A&P is to look at a longer period horizon because quarter-to-quarter, the activity, launch phasing, all those keep happening. When you look at the 9 months of this fiscal, our A&P to percentage revenue is 10%, which is same as the previous year. In fact, on an absolute basis, our NPA has gone up by INR 200 crores approximately. And plus, if you combine that we are buying efficiencies, that means that in effective terms, it's gone up even more than INR 200 crores. As we move forward, obviously, we'll continue to invest behind brand and therefore, there would be that step up whatever is required to happen behind A&P or any other brand investment will happen.

My minimum point was here was that it seems like the A&P increase is all driven by the D2C portfolio, the new the -- 2 new brands is what it seems like in your numbers. And just the last question was on the liquids and detergents piece. Just wanted to understand, Home Care margins are at peak levels -- I mean, are at the highest levels ever that you've seen. If you could just give us a sense of how that defers between liquids market share and detergents market share? Any sense on that because competitive intensity is high across, but more so in liquids. So any color on that would be helpful. That's my last question.

Yes, I'll just begin on the liquids and then Niranjan can take over. We are leaders in liquids, powders and in bars and our focus is on growing the market towards these premium formats. And so therefore, we are well placed across formats.

Yes, absolutely. And in terms of looking at the margins, yes, we are at a reasonably healthy margins. I wouldn't say something which is over the top, but I'd say, healthy margins. And the way we look at it is that we are within those. The price value equation with the consumers has been maintained. We stay competitive on that front and the inflation that is happening benign or small inflation that's happening is offering us the opportunity for calibrated price increases as well.

And our mix in Home Care is a premium mix is what you must keep in mind and it's premiumizing even more so our margin shift in Home Care is very structural, and it is not based on what our price competitiveness challenge that we will find ourselves in. So it's a very structural shift over time that has taken place because we have become a much more premium home care business over time.

Our next question comes from the line of Jay Doshi from Kotak.

Yes. Just pressing a little bit on Percy's question. What has to change for HUL to deliver 10% revenue growth? So is it primarily a macro constraint or a portfolio issue? And in that context, are street expectations of double-digit earnings growth misplaced?

So let me just repeat what I said to the earlier similar question is that when you look at the macros, they have, in the recent times, shown improving trends. So when you look at a consumer sentiment, consumer confidence, the operating environment, we all talked about in the earlier part of our presentation that we are seeing an improvement in that. Second is our strategic actions which we are taking have also started to play out. It's based on these 2 combined factors. And this quarter, we've delivered a revenue growth of 6% and the highest UVG across the last 12 quarters. So based on all of that, we are guiding right now is that fiscal year '27 to be better than fiscal year '26 on the top line and the margins to stay in the guided range because growth will be our #1 priority moving forward.

Okay. If I may just ask so if you are already at 6% revenue growth in second half, if you assume this as a normalized quarter so second half this year will be 6% and if you're expecting a better FY '27 with low single-digit pricing, then double-digit earnings growth should not be very difficult, right?

Fiscal year '27 better than fiscal year '26 is on the top line and margin to stay within the guidance. So it's not based on a quarter. The second half of FY '26 better than first half of FY '26. I repeat, the top line in FY '27 to be better than full year '26 and the margin to remain within guidance. So we stay with that as of now. Beyond this, we'll not be able to guide any number.

Our next question comes from the line of Nihal Jham, an investor.

Sorry, this is Nihal Jham from HSBC. Two questions. First is on Beauty & Wellbeing that when you say looking at better growth in FY '27, fair to assume that Beauty & Wellbeing will be the segment that will drive the highest growth among the 4? And within the Beauty & Wellbeing segment, how do you look at the portfolio ex of OZiva, Minimalist and Hair Care which are sort of the better performing portfolio, but how do you see the growth in the more -- in the part of the portfolio other than these 3 parts?

I think firstly, all 4 of our categories drive growth for us. Of course, we have different growth rates across categories. But just like this quarter, all 4 of our categories are critical for us to drive growth. For Beauty & Wellbeing, our total business is critical across the pyramid given the size and scale of our leadership in both Hair Care and in Skin Care, we need our entire portfolio to go. And of course, we keep moving our portfolio towards high-growth spaces. These includes some brands that you're mentioning, but also includes high-growth spaces of existing brands. So let me talk you through it for -- just to be clear. So for example, we entered sunscreens with Lakme. We have light moisturizers with Ponds and Vaseline. And we have in Hair Care masks with Dove and serums. So our existing brands also extend into higher-growth spaces. So we grow both through the premiumization of our existing brands into higher growth phases through the rotation of our portfolio into high-growth brands and through continuing to develop and democratize the market down the length and breadth of the pop strata. So I hope that gives you color of how we see our business.

Sure, Priya. Second question was on quick commerce. Now just a conceptual understanding here, would it be fair to assume that if I look at your portfolio, say, ex of some parts of foods, which could be classified as indulgence. Most of Q3 for us is sort of just a demand shift, it's now that there is an incremental demand generation that happens given the categories we operate in. So that's one thought. And if you could just comment on how to think of the profitability of this segment versus our traditional general trade profitability that incrementally, as this channel sort of keeps going up, is there any questions on the profitability that could come up?

Yes. So as far as quick commerce demand is concerned, it's a combination of the 2. So you can't assume that it's completely a cannibalization. So a, there will be a part which actually move from the current demand and also parts which generate demand because our portfolio in quick commerce is different. It is more margin-accretive, it's more premiumized portfolio. And that takes me to the margin part of it. And therefore, when we look at from a gross margin perspective, q-com generates better margin than the modern trade which generates better margins than the general trade, which is a function of the portfolio that we play.

And just to add to what Niranjan is saying, essentially, we find in all our categories that consumer regime starts to change and grow as we are able to discover new products and formats. And therefore, if they were buying, say, 1 beauty product, 2 beauty products, they start buying 6, 7 beauty products and therefore, the regime start to expand. And it's also the nature of the consumers that who are today on quick commerce versus the consumers who are in general trade mass down the pop strata. So that's the other way for you to think about how quick commerce actually is discoverability of brands and formats.

The next question comes from the line of Manish Poddar from Invesco Mutual Fund.

Yes. I just had 1 question, so probably an extension to the things which other particulars were asking. So ma'am, if you had to, let's say, cut down the margins by about 2 percentage, would it entail getting higher growth? Or is it right to understand levers is actually doing whatever investments is required? And given the size, scale and the categories where we are, the growth outcomes are good outcomes?

So firstly, let's start by putting that our strategy is, firstly, its growth is number one priority. That's number one. Number two, we are saying that the growth will need to be volume-led and that's the entire plank of the strategy. Then we are saying we operate at a huge scale. So as you operate on volume, there are scale efficiencies, operating leverages, all that kick in across the spend line that we are talking about, which is what gives us the confidence that while ensuring that we are fully funding our big bets and our growth, we can stay remain -- we can remain within the guided margin range.

But would that mean, let's say, if you do 2% higher spends, would that entail, let's say, if there's one factor you can get 2% higher growth?

It doesn't work that way actually because eventually, you have to maintain the price-value equation and price competitiveness. Otherwise, it becomes a zero-sum game very soon.

The next question comes from the line of Tejash Shah from Avendus Spark.

My first question pertains to this one India R&D initiative that we are trying. So in the last Analyst Day at your office, you showcased your R&D capabilities, which looked quite impressive to most of us nonspecialists. So what are we -- what were we missing that this change is now expected to fix? And will it fix more of a growth issue, premiumization or it's more cost efficiency as well?

Yes. I think firstly, we benefit from all our global technology capability and knowledge across our categories, and that's what we would have seen, and I'm glad it was impressive last year, it will continue to be so. I think what we want to focus on is speed, agility and customization for India. So I'd like to use 3 words that we want to further dial up. It is speed, agility and customization for consumers in India.

Sure. But as an analyst, where should I see the benefit of this? Will it be more on higher...

Speed, agility and more relevant consumer innovation for India. Based on all the technological platforms that we continue to enjoy and benefit from as a global corporation.

Fair point. Second, this is a kind of laboring the previous point that we have explicitly guided that FY '27 will be better than FY '26. But then we also called out that we can't decouple much from macro. So just wanted to understand what kind of macro scenario have we kind of budgeted for now? And then what kind of tolerance level that budget has for us to kind of hold on to our guidance?

Yes, the macro scenario budgeted is what is happening today, which is essentially an improved consumer sentiment, consumer confidence and the overall consumption demand as you see increasing both across rural and urban. So that's what is being plotted not any different from current momentum.

Niranjan, just when I see that our Finance Minister has kind of projected 10% nominal GDP growth rate for the economy. And we are hesitant to kind of commit to double-digit growth even at the EBITDA level. So just wanted to understand that, let's say, if that number has to come down, should we expect that will be kind of worse off from where we are today in terms of guidance?

So there is a way that we guide our numbers, and we will stick with FY '27 to be better than FY '26. And we've factored in the risk-adjusted scenarios on both macros and our internal actions.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Yogesh Mulgaonkar to take up any questions from the web. Over to you, sir.

So we don't have any questions on the web. With that, we now come to the end of the Q&A session. Before we end, let me remind you that the playback of this event will be available to the Investor Relations section of our website in a short while. Thank you, everyone, for your participation, and have a great evening. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. On behalf of Hindustan Unilever Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.