Signatures
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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UNILEVER
PLC
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/S/ R SOTAMAA
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BY R SOTAMAA
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CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER AND GROUP SECRETARY
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Date:
17 January, 2022
EXHIBIT INDEX
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EXHIBIT
NUMBER
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EXHIBIT
DESCRIPTION
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99
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Notice
to London Stock Exchange dated 17 January 2022
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Unilever
update
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Exhibit
99
Unilever update
London, 17 January 2022. The management and Board of Unilever are committed
to accelerating the company's growth and repositioning the
portfolio into higher growth categories. As a result of the
reporting of Unilever's interest in GSK Consumer Healthcare, we are
today bringing forward a planned update, setting out the strategic
direction that the company is pursuing.
Unilever's strategic direction
Following the unification of Unilever, the Board has undertaken an
extensive process to review strategic pathways to reposition
Unilever's portfolio into higher growth categories.
This concluded that Unilever's future strategic direction lies in
materially expanding its presence in Health, Beauty, and Hygiene.
These categories offer higher rates of sustainable market growth,
with significant opportunities to drive growth through investment
and innovation, and by leveraging Unilever's strong presence in
emerging markets.
The Board also concluded that major acquisitions should be
accompanied by the accelerated divestment of intrinsically lower
growth brands and businesses. This would provide funding and enable
separation dis-synergies to be offset by acquisition
synergies.
Unilever is committed to strict financial discipline to ensure that
acquisitions create value for shareholders. The company benefits
from a strong balance sheet and cash generation, and remains
committed to maintaining an A-band credit rating. Following any
acquisition, the company would target a return to current levels of
gearing over the short to medium term.
Consumer Health is an attractive strategic option
Consumer Health is a highly complementary category for Unilever,
with good potential for synergies and a number of routes to build
scale.
GSK Consumer Healthcare would be a strong strategic fit. 45% of GSK
Consumer Healthcare is in Oral Care and VMS - categories in which
Unilever already has presence and substantial capabilities. OTC
would be an attractive adjacent category, with the ability to
combine Unilever's consumer and branding expertise with GSK
Consumer Health's technical OTC capabilities. The acquisition would
create scale and a growth platform for the combined portfolio in
the US, China, and India, with further opportunities in other
emerging markets.
We believe that this would be an attractive and synergistic
combination for the shareholders of Unilever, which would also
deliver value and certainty for the shareholders of GSK and
Pfizer.
Accelerating operating performance
As well as addressing its long-term strategic direction, Unilever
has been focused on accelerating growth within the existing
business. A series of initiatives have been implemented to enhance
operating performance. These include increased focus on operational
excellence to improve market competitiveness, and aligning
resources to five clear strategic choices. We have also
strengthened our portfolio through the establishment of
fast-growing new businesses of scale in Prestige Beauty and
Functional Nutrition, and the divestment of Spreads and
Tea.
Later this month we will announce a major initiative to enhance our
performance. After a comprehensive review of our organisation
structure, we intend to move away from our existing matrix to an
operating model that will drive greater agility, improve category
focus, and strengthen accountability.
During 2021 we started to see the results of the operational
initiatives in our growth momentum, despite the challenges in our
markets posed by the Covid pandemic. At the trading update in
October, Unilever reported Q3 YTD growth at its fastest rate for
eight years. We will update on our performance for Q4, and the full
year, on February 10th.
The management and Board of Unilever remain focused on continuing
to build momentum across the business and reshaping the company for
a strong and sustainable future.
ENDS
Enquiries
Media:
Jonathan Sibun +44 77 7999 9683 /
JSibun@tulchangroup.com
Lucila Zambrano +44 78 2527 3767 /
lucila.zambrano@unilever.com
Investors:
Investor Relations Team +44 20 7822 6830
investor.relations@unilever.com
About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Beauty &
Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products,
with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 2.5 billion
people every day. We have 149,000 employees and generated sales of
€50.7 billion in 2020.
Our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable business and
to demonstrate how our purpose-led, future-fit business model
drives superior performance. We have a long tradition of being a
progressive, responsible business.
The Unilever Compass, our sustainable business strategy, is set out
to help us deliver superior performance and drive sustainable and
responsible growth, while:
- improving the health of the planet;
- improving people's health, confidence and wellbeing;
and
- contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive
world.
For more information about Unilever and our brands, please
visit www.unilever.com.
Safe Harbour
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including
'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such
as 'will', 'aim', 'expects', 'anticipates', 'intends', 'looks',
'believes', 'vision', or the negative of these terms and other
similar expressions of future performance or results, and their
negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current
expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and
other factors affecting the Unilever Group (the 'Group'). They are
not historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future
performance.
Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements. Among other risks and
uncertainties, the material or principal factors which could cause
actual results to differ materially are: Unilever's global brands
not meeting consumer preferences; Unilever's ability to innovate
and remain competitive; Unilever's investment choices in its
portfolio management; the effect of climate change on Unilever's
business; Unilever's ability to find sustainable solutions to its
plastic packaging; significant changes or deterioration in customer
relationships; the recruitment and retention of talented employees;
disruptions in our supply chain and distribution; increases or
volatility in the cost of raw materials and commodities; the
production of safe and high quality products; secure and reliable
IT infrastructure; execution of acquisitions, divestitures and
business transformation projects; economic, social and political
risks and natural disasters; financial risks; failure to meet high
and ethical standards; and managing regulatory, tax and legal
matters. A number of these risks have increased as a result of the
current Covid-19 pandemic. These forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any
applicable law or regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any
obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to
reflect any change in the Group's expectations with regard thereto
or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any
such statement is based.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the
Group are described in the Group's filings with the London Stock
Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange
Commission, including in the Annual Report on Form 20-F 2020 and
the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2020 available on our
corporate website.