Overview

• Hindustan Unilever said consolidated growth for the September quarter will be near flat to low single digit due to ordering delays and channel destocking following the September 22 GST 2.0 rollout.
• The company expects the disruption to persist through October and for sales to normalize from November as fresh inventory with updated prices reaches retailers.
• About 40% of HUL’s portfolio moved to the 5% GST slab from 12%–18%, prompting consumers to wait for lower prices and distributors to clear old-tax stock.
• Brokerages kept views largely unchanged—Jefferies buy, BofA neutral, Morgan Stanley equal-weight—citing a temporary transition drag in September–October across FMCG and pointing to recovery thereafter.
• HUL shares fell as much as 2.7% in early trade after the update even as the broader Sensex rose.