Unilever FY Profit Down; To Buy Back Up To EUR 1.5 Bln Of Shares

(RTTNews) - Consumer goods major Unilever Plc. (ULVR.L, UL) reported that its net profit attributable to shareholders' equity for fiscal year 2023 declined to 6.49 billion euros or 2.56 euros per share from 7.64 billion euros or 2.99 euros per share in the previous year. The prior year results included 2.3 billion euros profit on disposal for the Tea business.

Looking ahead for fiscal year 2024, Unilever expects underlying sales growth to be within its multi-year range of 3% to 5%, with more balance between volume and price. The company anticipates a modest improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year.

Unilever announced that its Chief People & Transformation Officer Nitin Paranjpe has decided to retire from the company later this year. It has appointed Mairead Nayager as its new Chief People Officer, effective 1 June. Mairead is currently Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Haleon PLC, having previously served as CHRO of Diageo PLC between 2015 and 2022.

Unilever said it returned 5.9 billion euros in 2023 to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. It completed the final two 750 million euros tranches of 3 billion euros share buyback programme. The quarterly interim dividend for the Fourth Quarter is maintained at 0.4268 euros.

Unilever has approved a share buyback programme of up to 1.5 billion euros to be conducted during 2024, which it expects to commence in the second quarter.

Unilever reported that its profit before taxation for fiscal year 2023 was 9.34 billion euros down from 10.34 billion euros in the prior year.

Underlying earnings per share increased 1.4% to 2.60 euros, including 9.6% of adverse currency. Constant underlying earnings per share increased by 11.0%, reflecting a strong operational performance.

Turnover for the fiscal year 2023 declined to 59.60 billion euros from 60.07 billion euros last year.

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