Global FMCG juggernaut Unilever owns and operates brands such as Surf, Axe, Dove, Lifebuoy, Magnum, Hellman’s, Close-up, Rexona, Pepsodent, Vaseline, Ben & Jerry’s, Knorr, across Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Homecare, Nutrition and Ice-cream.
Personal Care is the largest category accounting for 23 percent of the company’s turnover, Nutrition coming in at 22 percent, followed by Beauty & Wellbeing at 21 percent of group turnover, Home Care also at 21 percent, and Ice-cream at 13 percent.
Unilever’s 30 Power Brands account for around 75 percent of the group’s turnover in the full year of 2023, which was €59.6 billion in FY2023.
In its recently released results report for the full year of 2023, the company stated: “Underlying operating profit was €9.9 billion, up 2.6 percent versus the prior year. Underlying operating margin increased 60bps to 16.7%. We improved gross margin by 200bps to 42.2% with an improvement of 330bps in the second half. We more than mitigated net material inflation of around €1.8 billion through improved productivity, price and mix while stepping up brand and marketing investment by €0.7 billion, a 130bps increase as a percentage of turnover. Overheads increased by 10bps, as we continued to invest in the expansion of our Prestige Beauty and Health & Wellbeing businesses.”
Emerging markets (58 percent of Group turnover) grew underlying sales 8.5 percent, with 1.6 percent from volume and 6.9 percent from price. Latin America, Turkey and Africa delivered double-digit growth.
India grew mid-single digit led by volume, with lower input costs that led to negative pricing in the fourth quarter. Sales in China grew low-single digit led by volume while the market recovery continued to be uneven and slower than expected.
Growth in South East Asia was impacted by a sales decline in Indonesia in the fourth quarter as consumers avoided the brands of multinational companies in response to the geopolitical situation in the Middle East.
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