- We expect HUL to post 5-5.5% volume growth and 10% revenue growth. Consumer demand continues to remain subdued in HPC for HUL, as per our channel checks.
- We note that soaps can likely have a price deflation due to fading impact of FY12 price hikes and aggressive promotions/grammage increase undertaken to drive volumes.
- Fair & Lovely has not yet recovered from the pricing transition and will likely drag personal care performance.
- Discretionary PP and foods continue to remain under pressure.
- Expect margin expansion of 40bp to 14.9% led by higher gross margin. 4QFY13 will be the first quarter factoring a higher royalty impact (~10bp).
- The stock trades at 29.4x FY14E EPS and 26.8x FY15E EPS. Neutral.