In 2021, under the influence of rising raw material prices, inflation and other factors, Unilever still achieved the highest growth rate in nine years. Basic sales increased by 4.5% year-on-year, and the Chinese market growth rate hit the highest level in five years.

In 2021, under the influence of rising raw material prices, inflation and other factors, Unilever still created the highest growth rate in nine years, with basic sales increasing by 4.5% year-on-year. The Chinese market growth rate hit the highest level in five years. level.

On December 10, global consumer giant Unilever released its fourth quarter and full-year financial reports for 2021.

data shows that the company’s Q4 revenue was 13.1 billion euros (approximately RMB 94.825 billion), a year-on-year increase of 8.4%; basic sales increased 4.9% year-on-year; the full-year revenue in 2021 was 52.4 billion euros (approximately RMB 3793.02 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; basic sales increased by 4.5% year-on-year, the highest level in nine years; full-year net profit reached 6.6 billion euros (approximately RMB 47.775 billion), a year-on-year growth of 9%, but basic operations Margin fell 10 basis points year over year to 18.4%.

01

High-end beauty continues to grow at double digits

2021China market sales are 23.8 billion yuan

In terms of business sectors, Unilever's three main businesses in 2021 are beauty & personal care, home care and food. Implemented separately Sales revenue was 21.9 billion euros (approximately RMB 158.525 billion), 10.6 billion euros (approximately RMB 76.729 billion), and 19.9 billion euros (approximately RMB 144.048 billion). Basic sales growth were 3.8%, 3.9%, and 5.6% respectively. %.

Among them, beauty & personal care has good growth in all categories except skin cleansing needs. However, due to factors such as rising prices of palm oil raw materials and inflation , although the price of this business increased by 3.0% and sales volume increased by 0.8%, the basic operating profit margin remained the same as the previous year.

Specific to the brand, benefiting from the recovery of e-commerce and beauty channels, sales of high-end beauty increased by double digits, of which e-commerce contributed a large part; skin care increased by 10% after the channel reopened in 2021. number of digits. Vaseline performed strongly throughout the year, driven by a number of innovations.

Growing as the market continues to recover, deodorants have returned to good growth and competitiveness in the North American market. The hair care business grew in the mid-single digits, driven by Sunsilk, Dove and Clear, and the styling business in North America also returned to competitive growth. Oral care is developing well in South Asia and Africa.

The price of the home care part increased by 3.1%, and the sales volume increased by 0.7%. According to the report, the dilutable laundry detergent under the OMO (OMO) brand has performed well in Latin America, and OMO has become the second largest brand of laundry gel in Chinese e-commerce.

In terms of regions, the key markets of China, India and the United States performed outstandingly, with increases of 14.3%, 13.4% and 3.7% respectively. Among them, the extensive growth of various products and channels in the Chinese market has the highest growth rate in five years, with a total revenue of 3.3 billion euros (approximately RMB 23.887 billion) in 2021.

In terms of channels, Unilever will increase its e-commerce sales by 44% in 2021, leading the growth of global channels, with e-commerce accounting for 13% of its turnover.

02

laid off 1,500 people, split the beauty and personal care department

started a 3 billion euro buyback plan in the first quarter

According to Unilever’s official website, since the beginning of 2022, the company has begun to make various adjustments to Improve competitiveness. This includes a new organizational structure, which will split the company into five different business groups: beauty and health, personal care, home care, nutritional products and ice cream, and reduce approximately 1,500 management positions; while strengthening its focus on high-end and functional Establish a fast-growing new business in the sexual nutrition field, while divesting the spread and tea businesses to improve market competitiveness.

"We continue to reshape our portfolio to achieve high growth space, acquire Prestige Beauty and Functional Nutrition, and sell our tea business." CEO Alan Jope said the company plans to expand the Continue to implement the repurchase of 3 billion euros (approximately RMB 21.716 billion) of shares.

It is reported that while Unilever is divesting its non-core beauty business, it has listed high-end beauty businesses with a volume of about 5 billion yuan, such as Dermalogica, Hourglass, and AHC, as key cultivation targets, and recently acquired Internet-native skin care products. Brand Paula's Choice has invested in the traditional Chinese medicine skin care brand Hebao.

For the future, Unilever stated in its financial report that it expects the company's basic sales to increase by 4.5% to 6.5% year-on-year in 2022, and pricing will continue to rise, which may have an impact on sales.

At the same time, due to the impact of uncertainties such as commodity, freight and packaging costs, Unilever's inflation costs will exceed 2 billion euros (approximately RMB 14.477 billion) in the first half of 2022, and may drop to 1.5 billion euros in the second half of the year (approximately RMB 10.858 billion).

Underlying operating profit margin in 2022 is expected to fall by 140bps to 240bps and remain between 16% and 17%, with the impact in the first half of the year expected to be greater than that in the second half. Margins will recover after 2022, most of it in 2023 and the rest in 2024.

"Accelerating competitive growth is our top priority." Unilever said its board of directors has approved a 3 billion euro stock buyback plan over the next two years, which is expected to begin in the first quarter.