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HLL Q4 net seen firmer in tough market
Mumbai, Feb 13: India`s top consumer goods maker, Hindustan Lever Ltd, is expected to post a marginal rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday as pricing pressure in soaps and detergents offsets growth in personal products, analysts said.
Mumbai, Feb 13: India's top consumer goods maker, Hindustan Lever Ltd, is expected to post a marginal rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday as pricing pressure in soaps and detergents offsets growth in personal products, analysts said.
But they expected higher revenue growth this year after the best rains in more than a decade drive consumer spending up in an economy still heavily reliant on agricultural output.
Sales had been sluggish in previous years amid fierce competition and poor monsoons.
The Indian unit of Anglo-Dutch company Unilever Plc sells Lux and Lifebuoy soaps, Pepsodent toothpaste, Surf detergent, Brooke Bond tea, Lakme cosmetics and Fair & Lovely skin lightening cream.
A survey of five analysts forecast a net profit of Rs 5.5 billion ($122 million) on sales of Rs 28.2 billion. That compares with a profit before one-off charges of Rs 5.4 billion on sales of Rs 26.35 billion a year earlier.
The best farm incomes in almost five years would rejuvenate consumer goods' share of total spending in rural areas and eventually trigger purchases of more premium products, said Anand Shah, an analyst at ICICI Securities.
Asia's third largest economy is expected to grow 8.1 per cent in the year ending March 2004 and the effects are likely to trickle down to the rural markets, home to more than two-thirds of India's billion-plus population, analysts said.
Heavier Government spending on the farm sector in the interim Budget is also seen boosting consumer spending, some of which will get diverted to items like soaps and shampoo.
Bureau Report
But they expected higher revenue growth this year after the best rains in more than a decade drive consumer spending up in an economy still heavily reliant on agricultural output.
Sales had been sluggish in previous years amid fierce competition and poor monsoons.
The Indian unit of Anglo-Dutch company Unilever Plc sells Lux and Lifebuoy soaps, Pepsodent toothpaste, Surf detergent, Brooke Bond tea, Lakme cosmetics and Fair & Lovely skin lightening cream.
A survey of five analysts forecast a net profit of Rs 5.5 billion ($122 million) on sales of Rs 28.2 billion. That compares with a profit before one-off charges of Rs 5.4 billion on sales of Rs 26.35 billion a year earlier.
The best farm incomes in almost five years would rejuvenate consumer goods' share of total spending in rural areas and eventually trigger purchases of more premium products, said Anand Shah, an analyst at ICICI Securities.
Asia's third largest economy is expected to grow 8.1 per cent in the year ending March 2004 and the effects are likely to trickle down to the rural markets, home to more than two-thirds of India's billion-plus population, analysts said.
Heavier Government spending on the farm sector in the interim Budget is also seen boosting consumer spending, some of which will get diverted to items like soaps and shampoo.
Bureau Report