Unilever profits rise to £8.45bn, but boss says performance 'needs to improve'

08 February 2024 , 09:18

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Unilever, the makers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has revealed its revenues were boosted by higher prices (Image: No credit)

Unilever, the global business behind hundreds of household brands like Ben & Jerry's, Hellmann's and Dove, has announced that its yearly sales have been boosted by higher prices and selling more products.

However, the company admitted that its performance "needs to improve" as inflation begins to cool. The company saw a 7% growth in total underlying sales in 2023 compared to 2022. This was driven by a 6.8% rise in prices over the period while the volume of items sold increased by just 0.2%.

It's the first time in over a year that the company has sold more products. Despite seeing the biggest price rises in its nutrition and ice cream brands such as Magnum, Carte D'Or, Knorr and Marmite, the volume of sales declined. This means people were paying more money for fewer items.

Unilever revealed that inflation began to cool during the second half of the year from double-digit price growth in the first few months of 2023. The multinational company said last year it was focusing on its 30 most profitable brands, which makeup three-quarters of its turnover, as part of an "action plan" to boost growth and turn around its financial performance.

On Thursday, Unilever stated it was "moving with speed and urgency" to transform the business. Despite this, its underlying operating profit was up 2.6% to £8.45 billion year on year.

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Chief executive Hein Schumacher stated: "Today's results show an improving financial performance, with the return to volume growth and margins rebuilding. However, our competitiveness remains disappointing and overall performance needs to improve."

The company confessed it was falling behind private labels in Europe and super-premium products in North America. "We are working to address this by improving our execution to unlock Unilever's full potential," Mr Schumacher added.

He concluded: "We are at the early stages of this work and there is much to do, but we are moving with speed and urgency to transform Unilever into a consistently higher performing business."

Lawrence Matheson