Unilever "confident in ability to adapt" as multi-year expansion plans revealed

A British consumer goods company has announced that it is setting out plans to drive its expansion across the globe.

Unilever, which owns brands such as Dove, Ben & Jerry’s and Domestos, announced today (4 February) its strategic choices for the coming years, which see it aim to develop its portfolio, accelerate its business in the US and Asia, and focus on ecommerce and digitalisation.

It also confirmed that it will invest around £1bn in its ongoing restructure over the course of 2021 and 2022.

The retail goods giant also reported underlying sales in 2020 grew by 1.9 per cent as demand for hygiene products increased.

The company said that despite hand and hygiene products driving demand, other areas of its beauty and personal care businesses saw a negative impact from the pandemic, as customers spent less on personal grooming.

Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, commented: “In a volatile and unpredictable year, we have demonstrated Unilever’s resilience and agility through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I would like to thank the Unilever team, whose dedication and hard work has delivered a strong set of results under the most difficult of circumstances.

“Early in the year, we refocused the business on competitive growth, and the delivery of profit and cash as the best way to maximise value.

“We have delivered a step change in operational excellence through our focus on the fundamentals of growth.

“As a result, we are winning market share in over 60 per cent of our business in the last quarter, on the basis of measurable markets.

“The business also generated underlying operating profit of €9.4bn and free cash flow of €7.7bn, an increase of €1.5bn.

“We progressed our strategic agenda, building on our existing sustainability commitments with ambitious new targets and actions, most recently with our plans to help build a more equitable and inclusive society.

“We completed the unification of our legal structure under a single parent company and we continue to work on separating out the tea business as we evolve our portfolio.

“Today we are setting out our plans to drive long term growth through the strategic choices we are making and outlining our multi-year financial framework.

“While volatility and unpredictability will continue throughout 2021, we begin the year in good shape and are confident in our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.”

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