Hindustan Unilever Ltd is set to announce its third-quarter results on Thursday, but more than the numbers, investors will look for clues on how India’s consumption story is shaping up after major structural and regulatory changes in the recent past.
HUL is expected to post a profit after tax of ₹ 2,597 crore and revenue of ₹16,156 crore in the three months ended December, according to Bloomberg estimates based on 19 analysts who track the stock. In the September quarter, the company reported a net profit of ₹2,694 crore and revenue of ₹16,034 crore.
The company, often considered a proxy for consumption in India, made some key changes in 2025. The demerger of its ice-cream business Kwality Wall’s India Ltd. became effective on 1 December. This came after historic GST rate reforms were implemented on 22 September. About 40% of HUL’s product portfolio shifted to a 5% GST rate following the change.
Priya Nair was appointed the new CEO and managing director of HUL from 1 August, succeeding Rohit Jawa. Other management changes included Niranjan Gupta taking over as CFO on 1 November and Vandana Suri named executive director of home care from 1 January.
In September, the company said that prolonged and intense monsoon conditions across several regions had disrupted supply chains and temporarily dampened demand in the second quarter. Investors will expect updates on whether those disruptions have settled and if the GST rate cuts have pushed consumption as expected.
“Consumers are increasingly upgrading to premium brands as the price-value proposition versus mass products has improved,” analysts at ICICI Securities said. This could help HUL because of its presence in the premium market, they added.
Rural, urban markets
Stakeholders are also tracking the progress of the economic recovery in the country. While the company had mentioned stronger rural growth post-pandemic, the management indicated that it has not seen major ups and downs in rural or urban markets in the September quarter.
The results will indicate how the middle class is reacting to rising prices. Urban inflation climbed to 2.03% in December from 1.40% in November and a low of 0.88% in October 2025.
An extended winter in north India due to La Niña, which is often associated with colder conditions, is expected to boost the performance of HUL’s winter portfolio. The company’s personal care brands such as Ponds and Vaseline are expected to have benefited from the cold season, according to analysts at Nuvama Institutional Equities.
There are challenges that younger consumer startups pose to HUL. The consumer giant is losing urban and younger customers to these startups. HUL has been trying to rebrand its iconic brands like “Glow & Lovely” to appeal to these customers. Competition from beauty and personal care specialists such as Nykaa with its own brands like Dot & Key is increasing.
However, raw material prices are expected to bring a favourable outcome for HUL.
“Lower prices of crude-based commodities, tea, robusta coffee along with range-bound prices of palm oil could lead to stable/marginal improvement in margins,” analysts at Nomura said ahead of the results.
HUL shares were little changed at ₹2,455 on the NSE at 1.02 pm. The shares have gained about 6.2% over the past year, with 26 of 37 analysts tracking the company having a ‘buy’ call on the stock.