Unilever sales drop as it appoints new CFO

Unilever has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer as it reports a 3.8% decline in turnover to €15.2 billion for the third quarter.

For Q3, Unilever shared the following division results:

• Beauty & Wellbeing turnover down 4.9% to €3.1 billion.
• Personal Care turnover down 2.2% to €3.6 billion.
• Home Care turnover down 4.1% to €3.1 billion.
• Nutrition turnover down 2.4% to €3.2 billion

The group's billion+ Euro brands accounted for 56% of overall turnover, led by Dove, Hellmann’s, Rexona and Sunsilk.

Looking ahead, Unilever has introduced a new action plan to focus on "faster growth, greater productivity and simplicity, powered by a stronger performance culture".

This aims to address the gap between the group's past performance and potential, delivering improved value creation.

To drive this strategy, Unilever has appointed Fernando Fernandez as its new Chief Financial Officer - effective from 1 January 2024.

Fernandez will replace Graeme Pitkethly, who announced his decision to retire earlier this year.

Prior to his current role serving as President of Unilever’s Beauty & Wellbeing division, Fernando was responsible for the group's business in Latin America. Earlier in his career, he led Unilever Brazil, Unilever Philippines and the group's Global Hair Care category.

Hein Schumacher, CEO at Unilever, said: "Unilever is a company with strong fundamentals: a portfolio of great brands used by 3.4 billion people each day, number one or two category positions across 80% of its turnover, an unrivalled global footprint, and a team of talented people.

"Despite these strengths, our performance in recent years has not matched our potential. The quality of our growth, productivity and returns have all under-delivered.

"Today we are setting out our action plan to close this gap. I am excited about what we can achieve by delivering on these three priorities, as we focus on unlocking Unilever’s full potential in the months and years ahead.

"Fernando has had a very impressive track record throughout his Unilever career, in a variety of financial, marketing and general management roles. His deep financial and business experience, strategic acumen and leadership qualities will be critical in helping to drive the step-up in Unilever’s performance that we are all determined to deliver. I look forward to working with him to deliver the action plan we have set out today to drive our growth and realise our potential."