Brokerages like Citi and BOAML have down graded the shares of Hindustan Unilever, following Q2 results that did not match expectations.

The shares of HUL were last trading at Rs 780, down almost 2 per cent over Wednesday's closing. The shares had hit an intra-day low of Rs 772 in trade.

The revenues of the company increased to Rs 7955 crores and was up 4.1 per cent. This was also below market estimates.

HUL's Chairman, Harish Manwani admitted in a press conference that the environment continued to remain challenging.

The company was adversely impacted by phasing out of excise duty incentives and price de-growth.

The soaps and detergent business posted good growth, and lower input costs also helped the business. The one positive from the company's results were the volume growth, which was placed at 7.1 per cent.

GoodReturns.in