Unilever sees mid-single digit sales growth post Ice Cream separation

Unilever (UL) said its investor event today will confirm that it remains on track to deliver an EUR 800M productivity program and the separation of Ice Cream by the end of 2025. Post the separation, the company will be focused on four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods. The company said, “Unilever’s medium-term guidance remains unchanged. Post the separation of Ice Cream, we aim to deliver mid-single digit underlying sales growth, supported by underlying volume growth of at least 2%. We expect modest underlying operating margin improvement, driven by gross margin expansion through operating leverage and productivity improvements. Our ambition is to deliver top third total shareholder return across our peer group and achieve an underlying return on invested capital in the high teens, ahead of our previous ambition of mid-teens. Our business is a strong cash generator, and we aim to sustain an average cash conversion ratio of around 100% over time. Value creation will be underpinned by disciplined capital allocation. This will include making investments to drive growth and productivity, continuing to reshape our portfolio through pruning and bolt-on acquisitions, and delivering attractive capital returns to shareholders.”