Hindustan Unilever announces leadership changes, appoints new executive director

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced significant changes in its leadership today, marking a strategic reshaping of its management team.

BP Biddappa has been appointed to HUL's Management Committee as the executive director for Human Resources, and chief of People, Transformation, and Sustainability officer for South Asia. Additionally, his role will extend to serving as a full-time director on the HUL Board, pending shareholder approval. Biddappa's responsibilities will focus on leading the people agenda throughout South Asia and leading transformation efforts from business, organisational, and sustainability viewpoints.

Biddappa brings extensive experience from his previous roles in Unilever, including leadership in Global Home Care and Global Employee Relations. Razdan, known for her strategic HR leadership during HUL’s response to the COVID pandemic and her advocacy for gender balance within the company, moves on to her new global position after impactful tenure at HUL.

Concurrently, Anuradha Razdan, currently serving as executive director for Human Resources at HUL and chief HR officer for South Asia, is set to transition to a global role as chief Reward and Organisation Development officer for Unilever, effective June 1, 2024. Razdan has been with Unilever for over 25 years, starting as a management trainee in 1999, and rising through the ranks over the last two decades.

Rohit Jawa, CEO and managing director of HUL, expressed confidence in both leaders, acknowledging Biddappa's deep knowledge of transformation and organisational development and praising Razdan for her substantial contributions to HUL's strategic HR initiatives.

On the financial front, Hindustan Unilever reported a 6% decline in standalone net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter, with earnings totaling INR 2,406 crore compared to INR 2,552 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company's sales saw a marginal increase to INR 14,693 crore, although revenue in the key beauty and personal care segment dropped by 2.7%. Despite these challenges, HUL announced a final dividend of INR 24 per share for FY2024 on equity shares of a face value of Re 1, complementing an interim dividend of INR 18 per share paid on November 16, 2023. The total dividend for FY2024 amounts to INR 42 per equity share.

This financial performance fell slightly short of market expectations, with analysts forecasting a profit of INR 2,435 crore on revenue of INR 14,913 crore.