In February last year, Unilever announced it would split its business into five divisions – Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Nutrition, Home Care and Ice Cream. Over the following eight months, the multinational finessed the new operating model.
The strategy has paid off. Unilever has reported sales of 60.07 billion euros (AUD$93.17 billion) for the full year 2022 – an increase of 14.5 per cent compared to 2021. Net profit also soared by 24.9 per cent to 8.26 billion euros (AUD$12.81 billion).
Beauty & Wellbeing, separated from Personal Care, generated the highest growth rate for Unilever. Led by power and prestige brands Dove, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Dermalogica and Murad, sales surged 20.8 per cent to 12.25 billion euros (AUD$19 billion).
The Personal Care division, fuelled by Rexona, the world’s number one deodorant, was also on a roll. Sales soared 15.9 per cent to 13.63 billion euros (AUD$21.14 billion).
Drilling down to regional markets, the Americas recorded the strongest growth for 2022 – up 24.1 per cent – followed by Asia/Pacific and Africa at 13.4 per cent.
Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, described the latest results as proof of strong topline growth. “We have made further progress in the transformation of Unilever and continued to deliver against our strategic priorities. Our new operating model is already unlocking a culture of bolder and more rapid decision-making with improved accountability. We are increasingly realising the benefits from the reshaped portfolio, accelerated savings delivery and improved execution.”
Going forward, Unilever plans to divest more low-performing brands and reinforce its focus on its high-flying Beauty & Wellbeing division. Over the past year, the multinational has de-listed thousands of SKUs and discontinued 50 to 60 local brands which only represented one per cent of its overall business.
The latest brand to be pruned last week was the North American operations of the budget-friendly Suave brand. Launched in 1937 with a hair tonic, the brand diversified into shampoos, deodorants, body washes and body lotions over the decades.
Unilever will continue to own and operate Suave outside the US and Canada. But in its heartland, Yellow Wood Partners is now at the helm. The US private investment company’s portfolio includes Dr Scholl’s, Beacon Wellness Brands and Isle of Paradise.
Suave is ubiquitously recognised for its long history of providing high-quality beauty products to American consumers and we are excited to add it to our portfolio of investments, noted Dana Schmaltz, Partner at Yellow Wood Partners.
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