2. Although there was a decline in the Net profit before tax but in 2010 Net Cash from operating activities was on rise. This shows that HUL have invested heavily on advertisement due to peer pressure i;e P&G.

4. Distinctly placed products provide reach to every segment of society.

5. Consumer Understanding and systems for building consumer insight.

6. Integrated supply chain and well spread manufacturing units.

7. Distribution structure with wide reach, high quality coverage

8. Access to Unilever global technology, capability and sharing of best practices from other Unilever companies

9. Well placed to take advantage of growth in rural India and lower strata of the society through “Shakti”

10. It can introduce products from its parent company in order to cater to the changing consumer tastes and opportunities in food sector.

12. Unfavorable raw material prices due to inflation, reducing profitability.

13. Heavy onslaught of competition in the core categories from emerging players like ITC resulting in higher advertising expenditure.

14. Counterfeit products in rural areas and small towns.

15. Reduction in income of consumers due to inflation.TRENDS AND FUTURE PLANS:<br />HUL has been working since 1912 striving to be a multilocal multinational. They reflected national priorities over the years and remained committed over the years. They have adopted good company policies which have helped them gain edge over their competitors such as:<br />Developing and using relevant technology<br />Generating productive employment<br />Adding value to agriculture<br />Sustaining export performance<br />IN today’s period, for the quarter ending June 2007, HUL has posted a growth of 13% in net sales to reach Rs. 34.31 billion. The profits have been even better off, with PAT growing at 24.4% to reach 4.72 billion. The company is on a cost cutting spree with reduced expenditure on advertisement by 2.7%. FMCG BSE index is above 2600 points. <br />HUL is now relying more on tried and tested marketing models such as the 6P model, which focuses on getting right the product, price, package, proposition, place and promotion to attract a consumer, to expand the market and outpace competitors. In a volatile cost and consumption scenario, there are far quicker changes in the way consumers respond to pricing, place and promotion, while changes to product and proposition typically have a longer cycle time. <br />Recent trends show that niche and discretionary categories are no longer making it to the shopping basket. An Indian consumer averaged 130-140 shopping trips a year—the economic slowdown took a toll on this also as she was forced to make the packs last longer. But at the same time, data crunching at HUL threw up some paradoxical trends.<br />The paradox is further accentuated for a national player such as HUL, with the northern and eastern regions showing signs of down trading (a trend whereby consumers switch to cheaper alternatives in a difficult economic situation), while the south shows few signs of this. “And we are being far more nimble at the speed and pace at which we are acting on that information,” says Vittal.<br />The complexities are reflected in the contrasting views of analysts tracking HUL.<br />Analysts Mahesh Nandurkar and VivekMaheshwari of brokerage firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, in a research report immediately after the results were announced had announced an outperformer rating. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that restocking (as opposed to destocking) has already begun in categories where price cuts have been taken, which could improve revenue growth in FY10,” the report said.<br />Credit Suisse Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd is also bearish about HUL and the consumers goods market in India. In a research report on 11 May, their analysts GovindrajanChellappa and Rajasa K. wrote, “The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market is likely to slow down from high teens growth to low teens (it probably has already). HUL’s core categories (soaps and detergents) will likely slow more than the rest due to higher penetration levels. In this context, we are most concerned about HUL’s share loss in PP (personal products). Unless HUL manages to stem the loss, especially in oral care and soaps, deceleration in sales growth could be significant.”<br />Future Plan:<br />HUL plans to expand its portfolio in the area of Healthcare and Contraceptives. Chemical Business, as well as several certain non-FMCG export businesses. It is trying to pep up its rural distribution systems and has launched low unit price variants of its popular brands to draw in new users in the rural areas.<br />CONCLUSION:<br />With its long and luminous history, HUL is India’s true pride. It is a company which the customers in rural as well as urban areas relate to. This explains the deep penetration of HUL in Indian market.<br />Past few trends may be disturbing but there have been multi facets to the decrease in profits. The future of HUL is demanding new and high level innovations so as to cope with increasing competitions. However, HUL is well equipped with all that is needed do this Indian Giant.<br />