Unilever sees 2026 sales growth at bottom end of range

(Sharecast News) - Consumer goods giant Unilever said 2026 sales growth was expected to be at the bottom end of its underlying range of 4 - 6% reflecting slower market conditions. The maker of Rexona deodorant on Thursday reported full-year underlying sales growth of 3.5%, in line with forecasts according to a company-compiled consensus.

It added that it anticipated a "modest" improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year versus 20% last year.

Revenue fell 3.8% €50.5bn, while underlying operating profit was 1.1% lower to €10.1bn in Unilever's first results since spinning off its ice-cream business at the end of last year as part of a broader business shake-up led by chief executive Fernando Fernandez who took over last March.

Net profit rose to €9.47bn from €5.7bn in 2024, the company also unveiled a €1.5bn share buyback.

Aarin Chiekrie,equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said the spin-off of household ice-cream names like Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, and Cornetto into The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) would help reduce "sales seasonality".

"On top of that, it will remove a host of costs as the group no longer has to make, store, and transport goods in energy-guzzling freezers," he said.

"Back to the main event, and Unilever's fourth-quarter underlying sales landed ahead of market expectations, driven by impressive volume growth. The pace of sales growth ramped up throughout the year, highlighting that the group's innovation plans and sharpened focus on emerging markets are bearing fruit."

"Good progress has been made on streamlining the business, with around €670mn of savings delivered so far. That helped profit margins widen, but unfavourable currency movements meant underlying operating profit dipped. All in, there are clear signs that the new management team is making progress, and Unilever remains a quality business with attractive fundamentals."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com