|
Unilever PLC on Thursday affirmed its annual guidance, predicting faster growth in the second half despite tough market conditions. The consumer goods firm reported that it ‘continued to outperform in developed markets’ during the third quarter of the year, as the demerger of its ice cream offering nears. Unilever’s revenue in the third quarter of 2025 declined 3.5% on-year to €14.72 billion from €15.25 billion. Underlying sales, however, rose 3.9%, amid a 1.5% boost from volumes and a 2.4% advance in price. Underlying sales beat the company-compiled consensus of 3.7% growth. For the first nine months of 2025, revenue is down 3.3% at €44.83 billion, but underlying sales are up 3.6%. In the Beauty & Wellbeing unit, which includes Vaseline, third quarter underlying sales shot up 5.1%. Personal Care, whose offering includes Sure antiperspirants and Pepsodent oral care products, had 4.1% underlying sales growth. Underlying sales rose 3.1% in Home Care and by 3.4% in Foods. Unilever’s Home Care range houses the Cif and Domestos products. Foods features mayonnaise maker Hellman’s. Ice Cream underlying sales rose 3.7%. The unit, which includes Wall’s and Ben & Jerry’s products, is to be demerged later this year. The spin-off, to be named Magnum Ice Cream Co, has been delayed due to a US federal government shutdown, Unilever revealed earlier this week. Preparatory work remains on track, and it still expects to complete the separation in 2025. The delay is caused by the US Securities & Exchange Commission being unable to declare effective the registration statement required for Magnum shares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. A Unilever share consolidation, to be effective after the demerger, was approved by shareholders on Tuesday. Chief Executive Officer Fernando Fernandez said: ‘We continued to outperform in developed markets in the third quarter, led by our strong innovation programme, and, following decisive interventions, stepped up our emerging markets performance with a return to growth in Indonesia and China. ‘Our performance excluding Ice Cream showed good sequential improvement, with a step up in volume growth. We expect to complete the demerger of the Ice Cream business by the end of the year. This will create a simpler Unilever, with a sharper focus and structurally higher margin profile. We’re shaping a brand portfolio that’s built for the future - with more Beauty, Wellbeing and Personal Care, prioritising premium segments and digital commerce, and anchoring our growth in the US and India. By putting desire at scale at the core of our strategy, and executing with excellence across every channel, we’re setting Unilever up to win.’ Unilever noted that excluding Ice Cream, underlying sales rose 4.0% in the third quarter. Looking ahead, Unilever expects full-year underlying sales growth within its 3% to 5% range. The guidance applies both when ‘including and excluding Ice Cream’. ‘Second half growth is expected to be ahead of the first half, despite subdued market conditions. This reflects our continued strength in developed markets and improving performance in emerging markets,’ it said. ‘We continue to anticipate an improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year.’ It predicts a second half margin of at least 18.5%, or 19.5% when excluding Ice Cream. This would be a ‘significant improvement versus the second half of 2024’. It added: ‘Our productivity programme, launched in 2024 to simplify the business and further evolve our category-focused business model, remains ahead of plan in its delivery of €800 million of savings. We continue to expect around €650 million of savings by the end of 2025. The remaining €150 million of savings is to be delivered in 2026. For full year 2025, we now anticipate lower restructuring costs of around 1.2% of turnover.’ Unilever lifted its quarterly dividend by 3.0% on-year to €0.4528. Unilever shares fell 0.4% to 4,634.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
