London, May 4, 2026, 14:12 BST
Hindustan Unilever rose 2.6% on Monday to ₹2,309.05, outpacing India’s broader market and giving parent Unilever PLC a timely sign of investor support in one of its key growth markets. The move followed last week’s cost warnings and price-rise plans across the Dove and Persil maker’s global business.
The timing matters. Unilever’s first-quarter growth was led by volume — more product sold, not just higher prices — with underlying sales growth, its like-for-like sales measure, up 3.8%. The company said emerging markets grew 5.7%, including 7% growth in India, while CEO Fernando Fernandez said Unilever had “started the year well” with volume-led growth and a strong India performance. Unilever
Unilever also began a share buyback of up to €1.5 billion on April 30, with the programme due to end on or before July 6. A regulatory announcement said the buyback is aimed at reducing capital and will be run by Morgan Stanley under non-discretionary instructions.
The buyback sits inside a bigger reshaping. Unilever has agreed to combine its Foods business with McCormick in a transaction valuing Unilever Foods at about $44.8 billion; Unilever and its shareholders would receive 65% of the combined company’s equity, while Unilever would also get $15.7 billion in cash. The deal is structured as a Reverse Morris Trust, a U.S. structure often used to spin off and merge a business in a tax-efficient way.
But costs are not giving the company much room. Unilever expects full-year cost inflation of €750 million to €900 million, Reuters reported, and finance chief Srinivas Phatak said there would be “frequent price increases but in small doses.” He said increases could reach the higher end of 2% to 3% if inflation pressure persists. Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt have also warned about higher costs, keeping the sector under pressure. Reuters
India shows both sides of the trade. Hindustan Unilever reported an 18% rise in March-quarter profit to ₹29.30 billion and a 7% rise in revenue, but finance chief Niranjan Gupta said material cost inflation was running at about 8% to 10%, while price rises so far were 2% to 5%. Consumer goods consultant Akshay D’Souza told Reuters that HUL and peers face a “margin squeeze” as competition and consumer resistance limit how much cost can be passed on quickly. Reuters
That is the main risk for Fernandez’s cleaner Unilever story. If crude-linked costs stay high and shoppers push back, the company may have to choose between protecting margins and protecting volumes. Chris Beckett, consumer staples analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said there are limits to pricing in developed markets: “it’s not easy to take pricing.” Reuters
Unilever’s London shares rose 2.56% on Friday to £44.07, outperforming a weaker FTSE 100, though the stock remained well below its 52-week high, MarketWatch data showed. The next test is whether Monday’s strength around India can hold once the company starts feeding new price increases into markets still sensitive to household budgets.
