HUL investors should participate in open offer Raamdeo Agrawal

Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) first Asian aerosol deodorant manufacturing facility at Khamgaon in Maharashtra is almost ready and expected to go on stream shortly, according to Unilever global chief operating officer and chairman of HUL, Harish ...

Analysts, as well as investors of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, the country's largest fast-moving consumer goods company, were pleasantly surprised as the firm reported double-digit growth in revenue, as well as profit, for the fourth quarter. Harish Manwani, HUL's chairman, responded to questions from Viveat Susan Pinto on how his company managed to buck the trend after struggling for much of the financial year ended March 31. Excerpts:What were the key contributors to growth in the fourth quarter? ...

Benchmark share indices ended higher, amid a volatile trading session, led by strong upmove in FMCG major HUL, following a stake hike by parent company, Unilever PLC.The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensex closed at 19,504 up 117 points. The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed up 26 points at 5,930. On the global front, Asian stock indices ended higher on Tuesday amid hopes of aggressive monetary policy easing by the European Central Bank and US Federal ...

Anglo-Dutch major Unilever, in its just-released annual report for 2012, said there was a risk of a modest slowdown in India, China and Brazil.This sparked a sharp reaction from Indian investors. The stock of Hindustan Unilever Ltd was down 1.3 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange, to close the day at Rs 472 apiece. Unilever, which derives 52-53 per cent of its $70-billion revenues from emerging markets, said it expected economic pressures to continue in 2013. "We expect markets to remain ...

In the wake of the furore over JWT’s Ford Figo poster campaign, the relationship between ad agencies and clients was brought to the fore at Goafest 2013. The Figo controversy has thrown up the question of whether clients are colluding with agencies to produce scam ads. In Figo’s case, the agency entered the ad for the Creative Abbies; when the controversy surfaced, it was withdrawn. Many say this wouldn’t have happened if Ford executives hadn’t given their go-ahead to ...

The advertisement war between Reckitt Benckiser  and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) continues unabated. After Reckitt had compared its Dettol Kitchen Cleaning Gel with HUL’s Vim a month ago, HUL said last week Lifebuoy gave better germ protection than Dettol’s antiseptic liquid. Recently, Reckitt Benckiser (RB) hit back with a front-page advertisement in The Times of India, saying its disinfectant now had a new fresh fragrance and could be used for multiple purposes.

After selling or leasing out its landmark commercial properties, including its former headquarters, last year, fast-moving consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is now focusing on disposing its residential properties and land parcels.  HUL has put on the block about two dozen apartments and land parcels in posh localities in cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, which are expected to fetch over Rs 100 crore to the company. HUL’s 18 residential properties in ...

However, foreign investors have completely shunned the infrastructure sector. A series of in-bound investments in recent months highlights investors’ rising preference of consumption-led Indian companies; they bet 1.2 billion Indians will spend more on food, travel and telephones. From Diageo and Unilever to GlaxoSmithKline, all multinational companies want a bigger slice of the Indian consumption story - fuelled by rising income and small families, say bankers. “We are seeing ...

Markets end lower this Friday with 30-share sensitive index, Sensex touching its lowest level in nearly four months on back of significant selling witnessed in Information Technology index after Infosys guided for a weak revenue outlook for fiscal 2014.BSE-IT index slumped over 10 percent after Infosys, the company with second-highest weightage on the index, guided for a revenue growth of 6-10%, much below the Nasscom estimate of 12-14% for the fiscal 2014.“The numbers were very ...