Fernando Fernandez Highlights India’s Rising Market Share in Home Care Segment

Fernando Fernandez, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the British multinational consumer goods company Unilever, has commented on the improvement of the company's business in India. He has said, "Our business fundamentals are improving continuously in India. India is our second-largest market after the US, and one of our most important locations."

In fact, in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, the home care segment of Unilever recorded core sales growth of 4.7 percent, along with volume growth of 4 percent. According to the company, this growth was supported by strong sales in India.

During Unilever’s fourth-quarter announcement of its earnings, Fernando Fernandes said that India has been a significant contributor to this growth. The strong performance of liquids in laundry and home care products resulted in mid-single-digit volume growth, which was its highest ever.

The company's CEO stated that the US and India are clearly key markets for Unilever geographically. Responding to a question regarding growth, he said, "Both the economic backdrop and business fundamentals in India are improving, particularly the strengthening of our brand equity. The brand excellence score in India is improving overall."

He further stated, "We are increasing our share, particularly in home care. We have reached the milestone of 40 percent of our business coming from this segment. In the last report, we achieved our highest share ever in this segment." Hindustan Unilever, Unilever's Indian subsidiary, achieved underlying sales growth (USG) of 5 percent in the December quarter, led by underlying volume growth of 4 percent.

Unilever also stated that HUL's performance has improved after the challenges related to GST. India accounts for approximately 12 to 14 percent of Unilever's total global revenue and remains the company's second-largest market after the US.