London, March 13, 2026, 14:38 GMT
Unilever Plc shares were little changed on Friday after the maker of Dove soap filed its 2025 annual report and Form 20-F, its yearly filing for U.S. investors, and repeated a cautious sales view for 2026. Delayed data earlier on Friday showed the stock about 0.1% lower at 4,821.5 pence, against a 4,827.5 pence previous close. 1
The filing matters because CEO Fernando Fernandez still has to show that a leaner Unilever can grow faster after spinning off its Magnum ice cream business in December. When the group reported February results, the shares fell more than 3% after it said 2026 growth would land at the bottom end of its 4% to 6% range; RBC’s James Edwardes Jones said there were signs of progress but “it will take time,” while Quilter Cheviot’s Chris Beckett said developed-market consumers were not “firing on all cylinders.” 2
Caution already hangs over the stock. A London Stock Exchange factsheet published on Friday showed Unilever lagging the FTSE 350 over the past year, and Friday’s steadier trade came in a weak London market, with the FTSE 100 down 0.3% as oil above $100 revived inflation worries. 3
Excluding the ice cream business, Unilever said 2025 turnover was 50.5 billion euros and underlying sales growth was 3.5%. That measure strips out acquisitions, disposals and currency moves; free cash flow was 5.9 billion euros and the company announced another 1.5 billion euro share buyback for 2026. 4
Fernandez kept the tone guarded in the annual report. He wrote that “Markets will likely remain subdued in 2026” and said Unilever still expected full-year underlying growth within its 4% to 6% range, but at the bottom end, with at least 2% volume growth and a modest improvement in underlying operating margin as it leans harder into the U.S. and India. 5
The filing also carried a governance update. Unilever said Belén Garijo López, whose appointment as an independent non-executive director was announced in October, is now expected to join the board in 2027. The company gave no further detail. 6
The pressure is not unique to Unilever. Reckitt’s shares plunged more than 6% this month after investors balked at hazy guidance, while Nestle said in February it was in talks to sell its remaining in-house ice cream business, another sign that European consumer groups are still reshaping portfolios around higher-growth categories. 7
But the weak spot remains developed markets. Unilever said fourth-quarter underlying sales growth slowed to 2.8% in North America and just 0.1% in Europe, so a longer slowdown there could leave emerging markets carrying too much of the load and make even the bottom end of the 2026 target harder to reach. 4
