08.01.23
United Kingdom
www.unilever.com
Sales: $40.2 billion
Key Personnel: Hein Schumacher, chief executive officer; Graeme Pitkethly, chief financial officer; Conny Braams, chief digital & commercial officer; Reginaldo Ecclissato, chief business operations and supply chain officer; Fernando Fernandez, business group president, beauty & wellbeing; Fabian Garcia, business group president, personal care; Rohit Jawa, president, Unilever, South Asia and CEO designate and whole-time director, Hindustan Unilever; Sanjiv Mehta, president, Unilever, South Asia and chair and managing director, Hindustan Unilever; Nitin Paranjpe, chief people and transformation officer; Richard Slater, chief research & development officer; Peter ter Kulve, business group president, home care; Maria Varsellona, chief legal officer and group secretary
Major Products: Beauty & Personal Care—Axe, Dove, Lifebuoy, Rexona, Sunsilk and Vaseline; Home Care—Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Omo and Seventh Generation
New Products: Axe—Fine Fragrance Collection; Dove—Dove Body Wash featuring 24-hour Renewing Micro-Moisture, Dove Hair Therapy; Lifebuoy—Dishwash liquid (Indonesia); Degree—Advanced 72H; Vaseline—Vaseline Intensive Care lotions with Ultra-Hydrating Lipids, Vaseline Gluta-Hya; Cif—EcoRefill, Seventh Generation—EasyDose Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent, Foaming Dish Spray, Domestos—Power Foam. Acquisition: Nutrafol
Comments: Corporate sales rose nearly 15% to $63.1 billion. Unilever boasts 14 billion-euro brands that accounted for 53% of group turnover in 2022. In personal care, these brands include Dove, Rexona, Lux, Lifebuoy, Sunsilk and Axe. Home care billion-euro brands are Omo, Comfort and Sunlight.
By segment, beauty and wellbeing sales rose 20.8% to €12.3 billion. The business accounted for 20% of corporate sales and 24% of its underlying profit. Unilever said hair and skin care categories rose on price increases, which were partially offset by a modest decline in volume. Key brands in the segment include Dove, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Clear, Tresemmé, Pond’s and Glow & Lovely. Together they account for half of beauty and wellbeing turnover.
Meanwhile, prestige beauty sales rose double-digits to €1.2 billion on gains in the US. According to Unilever, the skin care and color cosmetics portfolio in the US has been growing at twice the market rate. E-commerce accounted for about half of prestige beauty sales. In China, prestige beauty sales are surging—so much so, that China is now Unilever’s No. 3 prestige beauty market. During the year, Unilever acquired Nutrafol.
Personal care sales rose nearly 16% to €13.6 billion. Skin cleansing grew high single-digits on higher prices, partially offset by volume declines. Deo sales rose double digits on robust pricing. Oral care grew high single-digit driven by pricing.
Home care sales jumped more than 17% to €12.4 billion. Fabric cleaning sales posted double-digit gains, driven by pricing that was slightly offset by volume declines. Fabric enhancer sales grew high single-digit, led by price with some volume decline. Home and hygiene sales grow by low single-digits, as higher pricing was offset by a decline in volume.
For Q1 2023, sales rose 7% to €14.8 billion. Unilever said growth was broad-based across all business groups and geographies. With an increase in sales of 12.1%, those billion-euro brands continued to outperform the overall portfolio. Leading the way were Omo, Rexona and Lux.
Unilever continues to pare its lineup; it sold Suave in North America to Yellow Wood Partners (No. 44 in The Top 50). Suave was once the No. 1 hair care brand in the US.
By segment, Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing sales rose 7%, personal care sales increased 13.3% and home care sales jumped 8.6%. Beauty & wellbeing gains were helped by another quarter of double-digit growth in prestige beauty and health and wellbeing sales. Together, they accounted for 5% of group turnover. Hair care grew across all regions, helped by the continued rollout of the Sunsilk relaunch. Tresemmé sales posted good gains, too. In China, consumers snapped up new Clear Anti Hair Fall. Core skin care sales posted mid-single digit gains due to strong performances in South Asia and South East Asia. But they were partially offset by declines in North Asia. Vaseline and Pond’s delivered double-digit growth, too.
Gains within the personal care business came from strong pipeline refill in deodorants. Leading the way was Rexona and Axe; the latter launched a fine fragrance range which combines odor protection with fine fragrances and freshness. In fact, the launch contributed to Axe’s double-digit sales increase. Skin cleansing grew high single digits, driven by gains in Latin America and South Asia. Lux grew double digits, helped by the continued success of its bar relaunch. In the US, Unilever launched Dove 24-hour Renewing Micromoisture body wash. Oral care sales were up, helped by big gains for Close Up in South Asia and Africa.
Home care suffered a volume decline of 2.8%, due primarily to lower volumes in home and hygiene and air wellness. Still, sales rose 8.6% for the period. Fabric care grew double-digit with capsules and liquids performing well. Fabric enhancers grew high single-digits. Comfort grew strongly in Latin America and Turkey. Home and hygiene grew mid single-digit, with double-digit price partially offset by negative volume. Domestos grew double-digits.
On July 1, Hein Schumacher took over as chief executive officer. He replaced Alan Jope, who retired.
Prior to joining Unilever, Schumacher was CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, a global dairy and nutrition business with sales in excess of $11 billion. During his tenure, Schumacher delivered significant portfolio and organization change as part of transforming it into a more focused, growth-driven and sustainable business, according to Unilever.
Prior to joining Royal FrieslandCampina as CFO in 2014, Schumacher worked for H.J. Heinz for more than a decade—during a time of significant change at the company—across the US, Europe and Asia. In his last four years at Heinz, Schumacher was based in China, where he led a turnaround of the Asia Pacific zone. Schumacher began his career in finance at Unilever, before joining Royal Ahold NV.
For the year, Unilever said it expects underlying sales growth of 3-5%.
www.unilever.com
Sales: $40.2 billion
Key Personnel: Hein Schumacher, chief executive officer; Graeme Pitkethly, chief financial officer; Conny Braams, chief digital & commercial officer; Reginaldo Ecclissato, chief business operations and supply chain officer; Fernando Fernandez, business group president, beauty & wellbeing; Fabian Garcia, business group president, personal care; Rohit Jawa, president, Unilever, South Asia and CEO designate and whole-time director, Hindustan Unilever; Sanjiv Mehta, president, Unilever, South Asia and chair and managing director, Hindustan Unilever; Nitin Paranjpe, chief people and transformation officer; Richard Slater, chief research & development officer; Peter ter Kulve, business group president, home care; Maria Varsellona, chief legal officer and group secretary
Major Products: Beauty & Personal Care—Axe, Dove, Lifebuoy, Rexona, Sunsilk and Vaseline; Home Care—Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Omo and Seventh Generation
New Products: Axe—Fine Fragrance Collection; Dove—Dove Body Wash featuring 24-hour Renewing Micro-Moisture, Dove Hair Therapy; Lifebuoy—Dishwash liquid (Indonesia); Degree—Advanced 72H; Vaseline—Vaseline Intensive Care lotions with Ultra-Hydrating Lipids, Vaseline Gluta-Hya; Cif—EcoRefill, Seventh Generation—EasyDose Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent, Foaming Dish Spray, Domestos—Power Foam. Acquisition: Nutrafol
Comments: Corporate sales rose nearly 15% to $63.1 billion. Unilever boasts 14 billion-euro brands that accounted for 53% of group turnover in 2022. In personal care, these brands include Dove, Rexona, Lux, Lifebuoy, Sunsilk and Axe. Home care billion-euro brands are Omo, Comfort and Sunlight.
By segment, beauty and wellbeing sales rose 20.8% to €12.3 billion. The business accounted for 20% of corporate sales and 24% of its underlying profit. Unilever said hair and skin care categories rose on price increases, which were partially offset by a modest decline in volume. Key brands in the segment include Dove, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Clear, Tresemmé, Pond’s and Glow & Lovely. Together they account for half of beauty and wellbeing turnover.
Meanwhile, prestige beauty sales rose double-digits to €1.2 billion on gains in the US. According to Unilever, the skin care and color cosmetics portfolio in the US has been growing at twice the market rate. E-commerce accounted for about half of prestige beauty sales. In China, prestige beauty sales are surging—so much so, that China is now Unilever’s No. 3 prestige beauty market. During the year, Unilever acquired Nutrafol.
Personal care sales rose nearly 16% to €13.6 billion. Skin cleansing grew high single-digits on higher prices, partially offset by volume declines. Deo sales rose double digits on robust pricing. Oral care grew high single-digit driven by pricing.
Home care sales jumped more than 17% to €12.4 billion. Fabric cleaning sales posted double-digit gains, driven by pricing that was slightly offset by volume declines. Fabric enhancer sales grew high single-digit, led by price with some volume decline. Home and hygiene sales grow by low single-digits, as higher pricing was offset by a decline in volume.
For Q1 2023, sales rose 7% to €14.8 billion. Unilever said growth was broad-based across all business groups and geographies. With an increase in sales of 12.1%, those billion-euro brands continued to outperform the overall portfolio. Leading the way were Omo, Rexona and Lux.
Unilever continues to pare its lineup; it sold Suave in North America to Yellow Wood Partners (No. 44 in The Top 50). Suave was once the No. 1 hair care brand in the US.
By segment, Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing sales rose 7%, personal care sales increased 13.3% and home care sales jumped 8.6%. Beauty & wellbeing gains were helped by another quarter of double-digit growth in prestige beauty and health and wellbeing sales. Together, they accounted for 5% of group turnover. Hair care grew across all regions, helped by the continued rollout of the Sunsilk relaunch. Tresemmé sales posted good gains, too. In China, consumers snapped up new Clear Anti Hair Fall. Core skin care sales posted mid-single digit gains due to strong performances in South Asia and South East Asia. But they were partially offset by declines in North Asia. Vaseline and Pond’s delivered double-digit growth, too.
Gains within the personal care business came from strong pipeline refill in deodorants. Leading the way was Rexona and Axe; the latter launched a fine fragrance range which combines odor protection with fine fragrances and freshness. In fact, the launch contributed to Axe’s double-digit sales increase. Skin cleansing grew high single digits, driven by gains in Latin America and South Asia. Lux grew double digits, helped by the continued success of its bar relaunch. In the US, Unilever launched Dove 24-hour Renewing Micromoisture body wash. Oral care sales were up, helped by big gains for Close Up in South Asia and Africa.
Home care suffered a volume decline of 2.8%, due primarily to lower volumes in home and hygiene and air wellness. Still, sales rose 8.6% for the period. Fabric care grew double-digit with capsules and liquids performing well. Fabric enhancers grew high single-digits. Comfort grew strongly in Latin America and Turkey. Home and hygiene grew mid single-digit, with double-digit price partially offset by negative volume. Domestos grew double-digits.
On July 1, Hein Schumacher took over as chief executive officer. He replaced Alan Jope, who retired.
Prior to joining Unilever, Schumacher was CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, a global dairy and nutrition business with sales in excess of $11 billion. During his tenure, Schumacher delivered significant portfolio and organization change as part of transforming it into a more focused, growth-driven and sustainable business, according to Unilever.
Prior to joining Royal FrieslandCampina as CFO in 2014, Schumacher worked for H.J. Heinz for more than a decade—during a time of significant change at the company—across the US, Europe and Asia. In his last four years at Heinz, Schumacher was based in China, where he led a turnaround of the Asia Pacific zone. Schumacher began his career in finance at Unilever, before joining Royal Ahold NV.
For the year, Unilever said it expects underlying sales growth of 3-5%.
People are still getting dirty. Last year, sales of Omo, Persil, Skip, Surf Excel, Rinso and Breeze, aka Unilever’s Dirt Is Good (DIG) brand, topped €4 billion in sales. Taken together, DIG is the world’s largest home cleaning brand in terms of household penetration. It’s also the fifth most-chosen FMCG brand. In fact, Unilever says DIG was the No.1 contributor to Unilever’s underlying sales growth in 2022. “With a relentless focus on superiority coupled with sustainability, the success of Dirt Is Good shows just how a household laundry brand can be purposeful while driving business growth,” said Tati Lindenberg, VP-marketing, Dirt Is Good. Dirt is good, yes; but plastic? Not so much. Last year, Unilever launched Cif EcoRefill, a 10x concentrated refill product that allows shoppers to buy one spray bottle and use it for life. The easy-to-use refill bottle is made with 75% less plastic and by diluting at home means 97% less water is being transported, resulting in 87% fewer trucks on the road. Meanwhile, Seventh Generation is committed to discontinuing large format liquid laundry bottles by 2030. Its EasyDose Ultra-Concentrated Laundry Detergent bottle uses 60% less plastic than Seventh Generation’s standard 90oz bottle. The plastic used in the EasyDose bottle is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. |