HUL gains 6% in June on demand recovery hope, market share improvement

Brokerages expect sales and earnings to grow faster than peers

Expectations of a recovery, improving demand trends and market share gains despite price hikes led to brokerage upgrades for the country’s largest consumer company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL). After trading flat over the last six months, the HUL stock has been on an uptrend gaining about 6 per cent in June.

Health and hygiene, which accounts for 70 per cent of sales has seen a sequential uptick in the June quarter led by higher demand. Growth is being driven by the rural segment which is doing better than urban areas. Given the expectations of a normal monsoon, robust rabi harvest and