Unilever PLC

Overview Key strengths Key risks A leader in the global consumer goods market, with several top brands in the beauty and wellbeing (20% of group turnover), personal care (23%), home care (21%), nutrition (23%), and ice cream (13%) segments. Exposure to fast-changing consumer preferences, as inflation weighs on household budgets. Highly diversified across geographies and product portfolio, with significant brand equity and consumer awareness. Ongoing changes in the retail networks are putting pressure on consumer goods companies. Large presence in faster-expanding emerging markets, which represent 59% of the group's turnover. Need to constantly invest and innovate to ward off competition from challenger brands and products. Solid sustainability culture embedded in the group's strategy. The group's financial policy needs to balance

...Unilever PLC has demonstrated the strength of its brands through strong sales growth, despite raising prices. Unilever successfully navigated record increases in commodity prices, as well as the rise in other input and operating costs, through robust pricing actions. In 2022, the group reported its strongest growth in over a decade--its turnover increased by 14.5% to 60.1 billion. Excluding the effects of currency, acquisitions, and disposals, the underlying sales growth was 9%, with price growth of 11.3% offset by a moderate decline in volume of 2.1%. Price growth at the group has sequentially improved in each of the past eight quarters: price growth in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 13.3%. That said, strong pricing, cost savings, and robust top-line performance were not enough to prevent a fall in the S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDA margin. This declined by 270 basis points (bps), primarily because of sizable input cost inflation (net material inflation of 4.3 billion and 1.0 billion...

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