Hindustan Unilever shares fall nearly 4 pc; mcap tanks Rs 23,941.91 cr

New Delhi: Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd ended nearly 4 per cent lower on Friday as investors preferred to desert the counter amid concerns over increase in royalty and central services arrangement fee to its parent Unilever group. The stock went lower by 3.84 per cent to settle at Rs 2,548.35 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it fell 4.28 per cent to Rs 2,536.65. On the NSE, it declined 3.76 per cent to end at Rs 2,550 per share.

The stock was the biggest laggard among the Sensex and Nifty pack. The company's market valuation also eroded by Rs 23,941.91 crore to Rs 5,98,758.09 crore on the BSE. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 236.66 points or 0.39 per cent to end at 60,621.77. On Thursday, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) reported a 7.9 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,481 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2022.

The company, which had posted a net profit of Rs 2,300 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal, said its board has approved a new royalty and central services arrangement with Unilever Group that will see an increase in the fees for the same to 3.45 per cent of turnover from 2.65 per cent in FY22. HUL on Thursday said its board has approved an increase in royalty and central services arrangement fee to its parent Unilever group for getting technology, trademark licenses and services.

"HUL's December quarter report was broadly on expected lines but the Street for now is more focused on estimating the damage that occasional tinkering of royalty rates could do to the intrinsic value of the stock," according to a research report by JM Financial Institutional Securities Limited. Its consolidated total income during the quarter under review rose 16.35 per cent to Rs 15,707 crore against Rs 13,499 crore a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.