Unilever turnaround is ‘moving at pace’, says new boss as sales rise in the first quarter

Unilever’s new boss said he is moving swiftly to turn around the Dove and Hellmann’s owner as sales rose in the first quarter.

In his maiden address, Fernando Fernandez said it was on track to hit annual targets and distanced himself from its previous ‘woke’ posturing.

Fernandez, the former finance chief who took over in March after the ousting of predecessor Hein Schumacher, said Unilever began the year with ‘a resilient performance’.

He said: ‘We are moving at pace, confident in making progress in 2025 and beyond.’

The consumer giant, whose brands include Lynx and Persil, saw sales grow 3 per cent during the first three months of the year. 

Price increases of 1.7 per cent helped, but it also sold 1.3 per cent more in volume.

Schumacher’s strategy to ‘do fewer things better’ has paid off as demand for its ‘power brands’ such as Dove and Vaseline rose sharply.

And the group stuck by its forecast for annual sales to grow between 3 per cent and 5 per cent.

Fernandez echoed his predecessor in making clear he will steer it away from a woke agenda, vowing not to ‘force feed’ messages about the environment on to brands.

Investors had fiercely criticised the notion that it should prioritise doing good in the world above profit. 

Fund manager Terry Smith accused it of ‘virtue-signalling’ after it claimed Hellmann’s mayonnaise had a social purpose.

And the new chief also shrugged off reports that its Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have been keen to buy back the ice cream firm. 

The division, where sales rose 4 per cent to £1.54bn, is to be spun off and listed in Amsterdam.

Fernandez said: ‘The separation and listing of ice cream is the option we considered to maximise shareholder value. That has not changed. Ben & Jerry’s is not for sale.’

Unilever has axed 6,000 jobs in a restructure set in motion by Schumacher last year. Schumacher, who had only been in the post since July 2023 before he was ousted in February, announced plans to slash 7,500 jobs to save £470million.

Fernandez’s optimism came even though Donald Trump’s trade war has cast a shadow over global supply chains.

He warned of ‘declining consumer sentiment’ in North American markets but anticipated a ‘very limited and a manageable impact’. ‘We have many levers within our own system to handle it,’ he said.