Horlicks boost lifts Unilever Consumer Care profit 19pc

Unilever Consumer Care's profit grew 19 per cent year-on-year to Tk 794 million in 2025, supported by higher sales of Horlicks amid easing inflationary pressure.
Sales of Horlicks gradually climbed over the past four consecutive quarters to December last year after a sharp decline in 2024 owing to double-digit inflation.
Subsequently, earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk 41.21 for the year to December last year from Tk 34.62 in the year before, according to price-sensitive information published on Thursday.
The multinational company registered around 6 per cent year-on-year revenue growth to Tk 3.58 billion last year, as inflation came down below 9 per cent since June last year after remaining in double digits for more than two years.

Masud Khan, chairman of Unilever Consumer Care, said Horlicks sales strongly bounced back, especially for the smaller packs, amid easing inflationary pressure. The small packs are affordable for low-income consumers.
"Improved operational efficiency and enhanced marketing, especially for Horlicks to increase its relevance among students, also contributed to both top-line and bottom-line growth," Mr Khan said.
Horlicks accounted for more than 90 per cent of the company's revenue, indicating that demand for the product is returning as people's purchasing power improves on the back of cooling inflation.
The company also launched a new Horlicks variant in the third quarter of 2024, promising physical and cognitive growth for children, which received a good response.
Despite reporting higher profit, the board of directors of the company declared a 420 per cent cash dividend for the year, much lower than the 520 per cent cash dividend paid the year before, which was the highest in five years.
Investors will get Tk 42 per share against earnings of Tk 41.21 per share, meaning the company will disburse almost all of its annual profit.
Presently, the total number of shares is 19.27 million. Therefore, the company will disburse more than Tk 809 million in cash dividends against a profit of Tk 794 million for the year.
However, sponsor-directors will get the majority of the dividend amount, as they currently hold a 92.8 per cent stake in the company.
The net operating cash flow per share, a measure of a company's ability to generate cash from its operations, turned negative at Tk 21.45 per share in 2025, from positive Tk 25.62 in the previous year, due to lower collections and higher payments to suppliers.
The net asset value, which refers to the excess of total assets over total liabilities, stood at Tk 116.3 per share, down from Tk 126.83 in the previous year.
Unilever Consumer Care, a part of the Unilever Group, previously operated as GlaxoSmithKline (Bangladesh) and was listed in 1976.
In 2020, Unilever acquired nearly an 82 per cent stake in GlaxoSmithKline's food and drinks business in Bangladesh at a cost of more than Tk 20 billion.
Under the acquisition, Unilever gained ownership of GSK's iconic health food and drinks (HFD) portfolio brands, including Horlicks, Boost and Glaxose-D, and was renamed Unilever Consumer Care, focusing on the consumer healthcare nutrition business.
Meanwhile, following the latest earnings disclosure, the stock of Unilever Consumer Care dropped 0.37 per cent to Tk 2,152.3 per share on Thursday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
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