Hindustan Unilever Ltd on Friday said it has appointed Rohit Jawa as its next managing director and chief executive officer. Jawa will take over from Sanjiv Mehta who will retire from the company after leading it for a decade. Jawa at present is the chief of transformation for Unilever, based in London. The 56-year-old, who joined Hindustan Unilever as a management trainee in 1988, takes over the maker of Dove soaps and Sunsilk shampoos at a time consumer companies are facing inflationary challenges that have hurt their margins.

Last year, Unilever had said the United States, India and China were three of its key growth markets, underlining plans to grow in India amid rising use of the internet in the country and the economy’s expansion. Jawa will take charge on June 27, 2023; he will join the company as CEO designate and whole-time director from April 2. Jawa will also take over as president, Unilever South Asia and join the Unilever leadership executive from April 1.

Jawa had stints in China and Philippines as the country chairman of Unilever. He led a significant transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business, now Unilever’s third biggest globally, HUL said. In Philippines, he led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally. “I am delighted to welcome Rohit back to India. He has a deep understanding of the business landscape particularly in Asia. I am certain that with his astute business acumen, and growth mindset Jawa will take HUL to the next level of performance,’’ HUL chairman Nitin Pranjape said.

Mehta, 62, had taken over as the MD & CEO of HUL in October 2013 leading the business through a period of sustained growth. During his tenure, the business crossed the Rs 50,000- crore turnover mark and the market capitalisation of the company increased more than four times to $75 billion from $17 billion, reinforcing HUL as one of India’s most valuable businesses, the company said.

HUL also announced the appointment of Ranjay Gulati as an independent director of the company for a term of five years with effect from April. Gulati teaches at the Harvard Business School. Shares of the company ended flat at Rs 2,460 on the BSE on a day the benchmark index slumped over 671 points. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies — particularly those that make personal care products — have struggled to pull in sales from cash-strapped rural consumers, worst affected by the Covid pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war-led inflation. Growth in India’s FMCG industry slowed in the quarter ended December 2022 sequentially, according to market intelligence firm NielsenIQ. HUL recently hiked royalty and central services fees it pays its majority owner Unilever to 3.45 per cent of its turnover over three years from 2.65 per cent earlier.

With inputs from Reuters