Hindustan Lever likely to exit mushroom, leather businesses

Namrata Singh

Mumbai, April 26 : HINDUSTAN Lever Ltd (HLL) may consider the option of exiting non-core businesses such as mushroom and leather, which together constitute sales of Rs 180 crore.

Company officials said that various options are being considered for non-core businesses such as castor, rice, marine — all of which are an added advantage to HLL so far as exports are concerned.

“We are considering various options for these businesses, including creating value. However, this may not necessarily mean divestment,” the officials asserted.

Company officials further stated that while castor, marine and rice are doing well, businesses of mushroom and leather are not of any great significance to HLL.

The marine business, in fact, doubled its turnover last year. HLL is also aggressively investing in setting up capacities for fish protein isolates. Trial runs of value added fish protein isolates have commenced, and their exports are expected to begin soon, the company said.

In the rice business, HLL is working on a number of innovations to establish Gold Seal Indus Valley as a key Basmati brand.

The Basmati Rice business posted a 35 per cent increase in volume terms last year.

In castor, the multinational is one of the largest players in the world castor trade. It has been exporting castor oil, seeds and castor oil derivatives for the past 30 years. HLL has seen the business grow from 11,000 tonne in the early 90’s to 65,000 tonne last year.

HLL is a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major, which gets a large portion of its turnover from personal care and fabric wash sectors.

Soaps and detergents contribute 39 per cent to HLL’s turnover of Rs 10,604 crore. The other sectors where
HLL has significant presence in include beverages, oils and fats, branded staples, ice cream and processed foods.

The other non-core businesses contributed Rs 1,106 crore to HLL’s turnover in the calendar year 2000.