Hindustan Unilever's CEO Sanjiv Mehta's salary grew 36% in FY18, bonus trebled

MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL’s) MD & CEO Sanjiv Mehta took home a total remuneration of around Rs 19 crore for financial year 2017-18, a 36% jump over the previous year’s Rs 14 crore.

With the leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company delivering better than expected results during the fiscal, Mehta’s bonus nearly trebled to about Rs 6 crore. Mehta had received a little over Rs 2 crore as bonus in the previous fiscal.

According to the company’s latest annual report, the percentage increase in the median remuneration of employees for FY18 was 4.7%. HUL had 5,725 permanent employees on its rolls as on March 31, 2018. The average percentage increase made in the salaries of employees other than the managerial personnel in the financial year was 9.4%. As is the practice, the average annual increase is an outcome of the company’s market competitiveness as against its peer group companies.


Under Mehta’s leadership, HUL reported a 17% growth in its annual net profit to Rs 5,237 crore on a 12% growth in domestic consumer business.

Mehta is credited to have navigated the business in a challenging external environment after demonetisation and the introduction of GST, enabling growth and profitability improvement. The year also saw a massive rollout of a range of Ayush products, marking HUL’s entry into the naturals category to take on the threat posed by the likes of Patanjali Ayurved.

Mehta, 57, is slated to take over additional responsibility of chairmanship from next month following the retirement of Harish Manwani. The board of directors has also given Mehta an extension of five years as MD & CEO, subject to shareholders’ nod.

He is also the executive vice-president for Unilever in South Asia.