The London-listed FMCG giant made announcements on several fronts, including results for the third quarter and nine months, showing a decline in volumes within the group, according to GlobalData.

Volumes in nutrition and ice cream, which include Unilever's food products business, also decreased in both periods, while volumes predominantly increased in its other three areas: personal care, home care, and beauty and well-being.

However, Unilever stated that it has reached an agreement to sell a majority stake in Dollar Shave Club but will retain a 35% share. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Hein Schumacher, who joined Unilever as CEO in July from the dairy giant FrieslandCampina, described the men's care business acquired in 2016 as an example of "unsuccessful attempts to move away from our core."

Unilever has promoted internally to replace Pitkethly, who will step down from the CFO position and the board on December 31 but will remain with the company until May 31 as part of a transition process.

Fernando Fernandez, currently president of the beauty and wellness division, will take over from Pitkethly on January 1. Fernandez, who will have an annual salary of 1.18 million euros (1.2 million dollars), will also be eligible for an annual bonus and a performance stock plan.

Schumacher said, 'Fernando has had a very impressive track record throughout his career at Unilever, in various financial, marketing, and general management roles. His deep financial and business experience, strategic insight, and leadership qualities will be essential to help drive the Unilever performance we are all determined to deliver.'

"Action Plan"

Unilever's three-point action plan focuses on "faster growth; productivity and simplicity; and a culture of performance," with a key requirement for the latter to "strengthen" the group's "multi-year financial framework," including achieving an annual underlying sales growth (USG) of 3-5%.

In the third quarter, USG increased by 5.2% for a turnover of 15.2 billion euros, which was down 3.8% in reported terms. Over the nine months, the value increased by 7.7% to 45.8 billion EUR, with a reported increase of 0.4%.

Unilever's volume decreased by 0.6% and 0.4% for the two periods, with prices of 5.8% and 8.1%, respectively.

The so-called billion-euro power brands, which Schumacher said represent 70% of the group's turnover, recorded a third-quarter USG imprint of 7.2%.

Schumacher explained the thinking behind the action plan today, including increasing innovation and investments in power brands and "leveraging the full power of our operating model."

He added, 'Unilever is a company with strong fundamentals: a portfolio of great brands used by 3.4 billion people every day, positions one or two in 80% of turnover categories, an unparalleled global footprint, and a team of talented people.

'Despite these strengths, our performance in recent years has not matched our potential. The quality of our growth, productivity, and profitability has all been under-delivered.'

Brand "superiority," investments, and profits, along with premiumization, are objectives within the faster growth goal. Unilever also said it aims to "selectively optimize the portfolio," without "major or transformative acquisitions."

Rebuilding gross margins and sustainability initiatives will fall under productivity and simplicity, while Unilever will instigate executive changes in business areas starting January 1 as part of performance culture goals.

Executive reshuffle

In food and nutrition, Matt Close, president of the ice cream division, will leave Unilever at the end of the year and will be replaced by Peter ter Kulve, currently president for home care.

Hanneke Faber, president of nutrition, will also leave, with a replacement to be named later.

Meanwhile, Unilever has created a role for a chief growth and marketing officer, to be filled by Esi Eggleston Bracey, currently general manager for personal care in North America.

Regarding ice cream, Unilever said volumes were affected by consumers downgrading to "value formats," with private label gaining market share, along with "less favorable" summer weather, especially in Europe.

Retail ice cream volumes in the third quarter fell by 10.1% and have declined by 6.9% so far, impacting all category volumes in Europe.

For the group in all categories in the region, these fell by 10.7% and 8.1%, respectively.

USG for ice cream in all regions decreased by 2.8% for that quarter, at 2.2 billion euros in turnover, but increased by 2.8% for the year so far, at 6.7 billion euros.

Nutrition volume decreased by 3.8% and 2.6% for the two periods, with positive USG of 5.6% and 8.7% to provide turnover of 3.2 billion euros and 9.9 billion euros.