Tom Branna, Editorial Director04.30.21
UPDATE: Unilever sold Elida Beauty to Boston-based private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners LLC in December 2023. Details can be found here.
Unilever is spinning off a number of smaller beauty and personal care brands under the name Elida Beauty. The brands include Q-Tips, Caress, Tigi, Timotei and MonSavon. Together, they had sales of about $725 million (660 million euros) and are sold primarily in Europe and North America. Unilever is making the move as the brands "will benefit from dedicated management focus," according to the company.
The announcement came as Unilever reported Q1 results. Sales fell less than 1% to 12.3 billion euros ($14.8 billion at current exchange rates) due to unfavorable exchange rates. Underlying growth was 5.7%. The company said strong growth came from prestige beauty and functional nutrition.
Beauty and personal care underlying sales rose 2.3%, with 1.5% from volume and 0.8% from pricing. Skin cleansing grew mid-single digit, with growth in the first two months followed by a decline in March as Unilever started lapping a sharp increase in demand for hygiene products. The company rolled out Dove’s Care & Protect in Americas, Europe and India. The formula is said to combine hygiene and long-lasting moisturization. Skin care and hair care both grew mid-single digit. In hair, wash and care growth was driven by strong performance in China and India, which was partly offset by a decline in styling, as restricted living continued to weigh on usage occasions. Deodorants declined high-single digit as the deodorants market was also impacted by lower consumer usage. Prestige sales grew strong double digit, helped by the gradual restocking and reopening of brick and mortar stores in the US. The Hourglass brand launched a 100% vegan red lipstick formulated with a patent-pending pigment replacing the industry standard, which is produced from crushed beetles.
By region, emerging markets grew 9.4% driven by strong double-digit growth in China and India, following strict lockdowns in the prior year. Latin America grew high-single digit while South East Asia declined, driven by Indonesia. Developed markets grew 0.8%, with mid-single digit growth in North America offset by a decline in Europe, where volumes were impacted by lockdowns and Unilever faced higher comps from a year ago. E-commerce continued to perform well, with underlying sales growth of 66%, and represented 11% of sales.
Unilever's board also approved a three billion euro buyback.
Unilever is spinning off a number of smaller beauty and personal care brands under the name Elida Beauty. The brands include Q-Tips, Caress, Tigi, Timotei and MonSavon. Together, they had sales of about $725 million (660 million euros) and are sold primarily in Europe and North America. Unilever is making the move as the brands "will benefit from dedicated management focus," according to the company.
The announcement came as Unilever reported Q1 results. Sales fell less than 1% to 12.3 billion euros ($14.8 billion at current exchange rates) due to unfavorable exchange rates. Underlying growth was 5.7%. The company said strong growth came from prestige beauty and functional nutrition.
Beauty and personal care underlying sales rose 2.3%, with 1.5% from volume and 0.8% from pricing. Skin cleansing grew mid-single digit, with growth in the first two months followed by a decline in March as Unilever started lapping a sharp increase in demand for hygiene products. The company rolled out Dove’s Care & Protect in Americas, Europe and India. The formula is said to combine hygiene and long-lasting moisturization. Skin care and hair care both grew mid-single digit. In hair, wash and care growth was driven by strong performance in China and India, which was partly offset by a decline in styling, as restricted living continued to weigh on usage occasions. Deodorants declined high-single digit as the deodorants market was also impacted by lower consumer usage. Prestige sales grew strong double digit, helped by the gradual restocking and reopening of brick and mortar stores in the US. The Hourglass brand launched a 100% vegan red lipstick formulated with a patent-pending pigment replacing the industry standard, which is produced from crushed beetles.
Home care underlying sales grew 5.9%, with 6.5% from volume and negative price of 0.6%. Fabric cleaning and fabric enhancing grew mid-single digit, led by recovery in India as consumers returned to offices and schools. During the quarter, Unilever continued the rollout of its “tougher on stains, kinder to the planet” plant-based innovation under the Omo brand. Home & hygiene grew mid-single digit as demand for surface cleaners remained elevated, albeit declining in March as Unilever faced higher comps. Unilever expanded the rollout of omestos multi-surface germ kill innovation, launching new formats into India, Turkey and the UK.
Unilever's board also approved a three billion euro buyback.