Investors and brokerages are cheering India's largest fast moving consumer goods player Hindustan Unilever Ltd's (HUL) latest CEO and MD Priya Nair, who will replace the current chief Rohit Jawa, starting August 1, 2025.

HUL announced the appointment of Priya Nair as its new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, making her the first woman to lead the FMCG giant in its 92-year history. She is currently President, Beauty & Wellbeing, Unilever.

In an exchange filing, the FMCG major said that she replaces Rohit Jawa, who will step down as CEO and MD on July 31, 2025 to pursue the next chapter in his personal and professional journey.

At 9.15 a.m., shares of HUL were quoting Rs 2,463.8, higher by 2.3 percent.

According to analysts, Priya Nair will provide the FMCG player with the required boost to navigate the rising competitive challenges, while accelerating HUL's digital transformation efforts. Further, with her long-standing experience at HUL, she is well-positioned to help the firm capitalize on the evolving and long-term prospects of the Indian consumption market, stated Japan-based Nomura.

The brokerage offered an example from Priya Nair's stint in the Home Care segment from 2014 to 2020. During this time, the segment's EBIT margin soared 570 basis points from 13.1 percent in FY14, to 18.8 percent in FY20. As a result, HUL's overall EBIR margin rose from 15 percent to 22.3 percent over the years.

From 2020 to 2022, Priya Nair was instrumental in HUL's premiumization thrust. She drove the shift from from value offerings to the premium segment by driving 26 percent of HUL’s portfolio focus towards premium demand spaces compared to 20 percent in 2020.

With Nair stepping to the helm, HUL is likely to enter a new phase of growth and innovation, noted Nitin Paranjpe, Chairman, HUL. This will be very closely watched by experts, who have often voiced concerns around the FMCG player's underperformance compared to peers.

"Over the past two years, HUL’s volume, revenue and earnings growth were weak and grew by just 2-3 percent due to various macroeconomic factors, increase in competitive landscape from new brands/D2C players and others," said Nomura.

Over the past five years, shares of HUL have recorded a mere eight percent uptick. However, the change should bring some comfort to the firm's stock price, according to experts.

Citi Research noted that management changes in the Indian consumer space have been a much talked about factor on Street. Further, in recent memory, the markets saw big rallies and eventual business performance improvements at Godrej Consumer and Colgate India, following a change in management.

According to Goldman Sachs, HUL's volume growth will gradually improve over FY26. Morgan Stanley and Investec, both, noted that the departure of Rohit Jawa came as a surprise, given his shorter-than-expected stint. The brokerages also pointed to a recent reshuffle in HUL parent Unilever's CEO, with the former CEO stepping down in February.

Macquarie, however, allayed concerns, noting that while the sudden departure of Rohit Jawa and the relatively short period of transition remain concerning, the brokerage gains comfort from Priya's long period of experience in India. Further, the change of guard will drive a stronger focus on growth, especially in the Beauty segment.