The Hindustan Unilever stock jumped 4.61 per cent on a sluggish Friday market as investors cheered the appointment of Priya Nair as the new CEO and MD of India’s premier company that manufactures soap, detergent, food and beauty products.
Analysts tracking HUL described Nair, who would be one of the few career woman CEOs at the helm of a Nifty 50 company, as someone with a ‘strong track record’ and ‘aggressive’, who can bring back volume growth to the business.
“Priya is seen as an aggressive MD in our view,” Abneesh Roy of Nuvama Research said in a note. Nair takes over the top job from August 1 after the surprise exit of incumbent Rohit Jawa who steps down three years before the completion of his term.
Nair “comes with a strong track record,” Citi Research said in a note, adding it will watch for any strategy refresh after a period of relatively “tough performance” by HUL.
Management changes in the Indian consumer space have led to share rallies and performance improvements at firms such as Godrej Consumer and Colgate-Palmolive India, Citi said.
HUL shares closed at ₹2,520, going up by ₹111 a share while the broader market slipped by 0.83 per cent, or 689.91 points, under pressure from renewed uncertainties over Trump tariffs.
HUL, maker of popular brands such as Surf Excel, Brooke Bond, Dove, Lifebuoy, Kwality Walls among others, has struggled to drive sales over recent quarters, with average volume growth of just over 2 per cent as it faces stiff competition from new-age brands.
Jefferies said the company may need to bring global brands to India as it faces pressure in beauty, foods, soaps and packaged tea categories.
According to Nuvama, Nair knows India ‘quite well’, despite her recent stint as the president of the beauty and wellbeing portfolio in the parent company Unilever.
“She is better placed to further improve the performance of beauty and wellbeing. She has also headed the home care business of HUL and did a splendid job. She has been groomed under earlier MD & CEO Sanjiv Mehta and hence that will be helpful. She is a more aggressive leader and will be a welcome value add to HUL at this juncture,” Roy said in the note.
When Nair takes over, she would join the likes of Prabha Narasimhan and Vibha Padalkar, career CEOs at Colgate-Palmolive India and HDFC Life Insurance. Some of the prominent business leaders also include promoter managers such as Falguni Nayar of Nykaa, Suneeta and Sangita Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, Pavitra Shankar of Brigade Enterprise among others.
Women hold less than 20 per cent of C-suite positions in India, a sharp drop from entry-level representation, according to a McKinsey report published earlier this year, which cited low recruitment, high attrition, and limited advancement opportunities as key barriers.