Unilever: Surprise departure of the boss, less than two years after his appointment

Having been in recovery for two years, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever does not seem to have yet found the recipe to really move forward. This Tuesday, the owner of Magnum ice creams and Dove, Rexona and Gillette hygiene and shaving products announced the departure "by mutual agreement" of its CEO since July 2023, Hein Schumacher .

A surprise departure, less than two years after his arrival, for the leader responsible for relaunching the growth and profitability of the group. He will be replaced on May 31 by the current CFO Fernando Fernandez. "Although the board is satisfied with Unilever's performance in 2024, much remains to be done to achieve the best results. Having worked closely with Fernando over the past 14 months, the board is very confident in his ability to lead a high-performing management team, to take advantage of the benefits of the growth plan in the shortest possible time, and to generate the shareholder value that the company's potential demands," Unilever explained in a statement.

The strategic plan to sell the ice cream business (Magnum, Ben&Jerry's, Cornetto, etc.) announced a year ago, for amounts estimated at around 18 billion euros, could explain the divergences. 10 days ago, the group announced that it was abandoning this scenario, in favor of a stock market flotation of this branch, which accounts for 14% of its activity. The slowdown in growth last year, which fell from 7% to 4.2% between 2023 and 2024, may also explain the decision to change captain to face a very gloomy consumption context. On the other hand, the group managed to significantly improve its operating margin last year to 18.4%, compared to 16.7% a year earlier. Over the past three years, the share price has been up more than 20%.