LONDON – Unilever is expecting a “soft” start to the new year after reporting a 1.9 percent uptick in turnover to 60.8 billion euros in 2024.
The consumer giant, parent of brands including Dove, Vaseline and Paula’s Choice, reported underlying sales growth of 4.2 percent in the 12-month period, and a 10.8 percent drop in net profit to 6.4 billion euros.
The company said the decline in profit for the year was due to a loss on disposals and higher restructuring costs as a result of accelerating its productivity program.
Unilever has been looking to slim down, sharpen its focus and streamline its operating structure. Hein Schumacher, chief executive officer, said the new strategy was beginning to bear fruit.
“We committed to doing fewer things, better and with greater impact. We executed the plan at pace and made progress in 2024,” Schumacher said.
“Fewer, bigger innovations helped to deliver volume growth consistently above two percent in each quarter. All business groups delivered positive volume growth for the year,” he added.
Schumacher said Unilver’s “power brands,” which account for more than 75 percent of turnover, led the growth, with particularly strong performances from Dove, Comfort, Vaseline and Liquid I.V.
He added that the separation of Unilever’s ice cream division, announced last year, was on track. On Thursday, Unilever named Jean-Francois van Boxmeer as chair designate for the demerged ice cream business.
Van Boxmeer is currently chair of Vodafone Group and non-executive director of Heineken Holding, having served as CEO of Heineken for 15 years.
Ice cream will be separated by way of a demerger, and the business will be listed in Amsterdam, London and New York, the same three exchanges on which Unilever shares are currently traded. The demerger is set to take place by the end of the year.
Looking ahead, Schumacher said that market growth, which slowed throughout 2024, is expected to remain soft in the first half of 2025.
Unilever acquired K18 last year, and it has since been outperforming.
“The steps we have taken in 2024, further reinvestment in our brands and strong innovation pipelines leave us better positioned to deliver on our ambitions in the years ahead,” he said.
Underlying sales growth for 2025 is set to land within Unilever’s multi-year range of 3-5 percent.
The company said it expects the market – and its own growth – to improve during the year as prices increase, reflecting higher commodity costs in 2025. The company said it’s expecting a more balanced split between volume and price.
In 2024, Unilever’s beauty and wellbeing division outperformed the company as a whole, with underlying sales up 6.5 percent in the 12 months, driven mainly by volume growth.
Unilever said growth in beauty and wellbeing reflected the “ongoing premiumization” of its core haircare and skincare portfolio and the continued strength of its prestige beauty and wellbeing portfolio, which together accounted for around 30 percent of turnover in the beauty and wellbeing division.
The company said it saw “strong performances” from power brands including Sunsilk, Dove, Vaseline, Ponds, Liquid I.V. and Nutrafol.
Dove accounted for the bulk of sales in the personal care division.
Dove, which represents around 40 percent of turnover in the personal care division, grew in the high-single digits with the successful launch of a new range of whole-body deodorants and a serum shower collection, using active face-care ingredients in body wash formats.
Prestige beauty grew by a mid-single digit reflecting a slowdown in the U.S. beauty market. Hourglass and Tatcha grew in the double-digits, while other brands, including Paula’s Choice, delivered low single-digit growth.
Unilever said that one of its newest brands, K18, a premium biotech hair-care brand, grew in the double-digits and will be included in underlying sales growth from this month.
Wellbeing sales saw strong double-digit growth led by Liquid I.V., Nutrafol, and Olly. Unilever said Liquid I.V. saw the continued success of its sugar-free variant and ongoing international expansion, entering seven new markets during 2024.
Nutrafol extended into skin care with a daily supplement designed to address acne, while Olly saw strong growth in China led by its female health supplements.
