HUL fell as much as 5% on Tuesday, after the FMCG major posted a quarter that was strong on sales but soft on profit.

Consolidated net profit attributable to owners came in at ₹2,673 crore, down 3% from ₹2,756 crore a year earlier. Revenue told a different story.

Revenue from operations grew over 10% to ₹17,341 crore, and EBITDA rose 8.4% to ₹3,947 crore from ₹3,640 crore. The EBITDA margin still slipped a bit, narrowing to 22.76% from 23.1%, as input costs stayed high through the quarter.

A chunk of the profit dip comes down to how last year’s numbers looked. HUL had booked a one-off tax credit in the same quarter last year, which made that base higher than usual.

This time around, the company also recorded a net exceptional charge of ₹75 crore, made up of ₹115 crore in restructuring costs, partly offset by a ₹45 crore gain from selling off surplus assets.

Underneath the headline numbers, growth actually looks healthy. HUL said this was its fastest underlying sales growth in 13 quarters, at 10%, with volumes up 5%. Home care led the pack, growing revenue 13.4% to ₹6,554 crore.

Beauty and wellbeing grew 12.4% to ₹4,083 crore, foods rose 6.8% to ₹3,480 crore, and personal care grew a more modest 3.3% to ₹2,624 crore, weighed down by ongoing palm oil price inflation.

CEO Priya Nair said the results reflect brand strength and disciplined execution, even as the company keeps navigating a volatile short-term environment.

HUL expects FY27 to be a better year than FY26 overall, though it flagged that commodity cost pressures are likely to persist a while longer.

At 12:35 pm, the stock had steadied slightly and was trading around ₹2,064 on the NSE, still down close to 5% for the day. HUL shares are now down over 11% so far this year and have lost more than 15% over the past 12 months.

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