Unilever Nepal's profit falls 19.5% on input costs while Himalayan Distillery's rises 28%
Nepal's listed manufacturers ended 2082/83 with sharply different fortunes. Costs squeezed a soap maker, a distiller grew, and a cement maker held its profit as sales shrank.
Nepal's stock market is dominated by banks, insurers and hydropower companies, and has only a handful of listed manufacturers. Their results for the fiscal year that ended in mid-July 2026 show how differently costs and demand fell across the factory floor.
Unilever Nepal: selling more, keeping less
Unilever Nepal reported net profit of Rs 390.8m in its fourth-quarter results, down 19.5% from Rs 485.7m a year earlier, according to both ShareSansar and NEPSE Trading. Its shares closed the quarter at Rs 47,200, ShareSansar reported.
The problem was costs, not sales. In the fourth quarter, operating revenue rose about 8.5% to Rs 2.26bn, while total expenses climbed about 18.6% to Rs 1.80bn, NEPSE Trading reported from the company's unaudited statements. The company blamed higher prices for raw materials and packaging, with supply disruption in the Middle East pushing up petroleum-linked inputs, and higher transport costs. It also said customers were moving to cheaper products as household budgets tightened, according to NEPSE Trading.
Home care, helped by a new fabric enhancer, was the strongest contributor to growth, with beauty and wellbeing and personal care growing more slowly. The company said it expects selective price increases, tighter cost control, better distribution and new products to support profit in coming periods, NEPSE Trading reported. ShareSansar noted that inventories rose 41.89% to Rs 1.55bn and fixed-deposit investments fell 60% to Rs 1bn as cash rose.
Himalayan Distillery and Shivam Cements
Himalayan Distillery had a better year. Revenue from operations rose 12.67% to Rs 8.11bn and net profit 28.14% to Rs 1.21bn, ShareSansar reported. Because share capital grew 20% to Rs 3.69bn, earnings per share rose only 6.78%, to Rs 32.71. Administration expenses more than doubled to Rs 195.6m. At Rs 1,140 a share, the stock traded at 34.85 times earnings. Earlier in the year the company had credited lower production costs for its profit growth, NEPSE Trading reported after its third-quarter results.
Shivam Cements, one of the few listed cement makers, sold less but kept its profit almost steady. Revenue fell 10.87% to Rs 6.92bn, while net profit slipped just 1.72% to Rs 784.4m, ShareSansar reported. Trade receivables fell 17.45% to Rs 664.3m and investment in its subsidiary rose 8.2% to Rs 5.14bn. Its shares traded at Rs 621, or 44.28 times earnings. The weakness in sales matches the wider picture of factories running well below capacity.
Two smaller manufacturers are paying out. Nepal Lube Oil proposed 15% in bonus shares and 6.05% in cash, and its shareholders were also asked to back a one-for-two rights issue of about 1.46m shares, Bajarko Chirfar reported; the issue, worth Rs 146m, is in SEBON's rights pipeline. Reliance Spinning Mills proposed a 30% cash dividend worth Rs 570m on paid-up capital of Rs 1.9bn, the same outlet reported.
What to watch
Unilever Nepal's next quarterly figures will show whether price increases restore its margins without losing volume to cheaper brands. For Shivam, the question is whether cement sales recover after a year of decline. Himalayan Distillery must show that profit growth can keep pace with a larger share base.
How this story was made: researched and written by The Standard’s desk with AI assistance, from the published reporting and official data credited below, and checked against those sources. Our standards.
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