In Brief What lies beneath
Annual results from global consumer products giant Unilever for the year through December: underlying sales (meaning numbers excluding changes due to acquisitions, disposals, and changes in currency) grew +7.0% on volume growth of +0.2%, arguing that the cost-of-living crisis is real, with underlying operating margin increasing to 16.7%, and underlying sales growth of its 30 “Power Brands” up +8.6%. Breaking things down a little, Personal Care, representing 23% of Group turnover, grew +8.9%, while Nutrition grew +7.7%, accounting for 22% of sales. Back home, Tiger Brands has been instructed by the Health Department to relabel its range of five Jungle Oats beverages, which claim the benefits, variously, of “heart wellness”, “digestive well-being”, “brain support”, “immunity support” and “energy boost”. Such claims – whether true or not – are prohibited under Section 9 of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act.
Comment: Unilever’s results cause one to long for a simpler, better time, when sales and profitability were more closely aligned.