LONDON, July 2, 2026, 11:03 (BST)
- London Stock Exchange traded normal weekday hours at the dateline. Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) was up 0.8% at 4,597.50p/4,598.50p. Delayed FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) data had the index up 0.5%.
- Unilever’s voting shares dropped to 2.154 billion after it moved 30.7 million shares into treasury, according to a July 1 voting rights update.
- Company data show the 1.5 billion euro buyback retired around 1.4% of issued shares at an average price of 48.85 euros each.
Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) edged up in London on Thursday, outperforming the broader market in the morning after giving investors an updated share count ahead of its first-half earnings due later this month. Shares were last seen at 4,597.50p/4,598.50p, up 36.50p on the day. AJ Bell showed the stock touching 4,635.50p in the session, with the group sitting at a market value of 99.04 billion pounds.
| Market line | Latest reading | Move | Extra read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) | 4,597.50p/4,598.50p | up 0.80% | 484,275 shares traded; high so far at 4,635.50p |
| FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) | 10,531.18 | up 0.50% | Reuters shows delayed LSEG data |
The key figure isn’t the share price move, it’s the denominator. Unilever said in a July 1 filing that as of June 30 it had 2,185,205,247 ordinary shares issued, with 30,703,780 of them held in treasury. Unilever group companies also held another 239,141 shares, but voting rights can’t be used on those. That puts the number of voting shares at 2,154,262,326.
| Share-count line | Figure | Market read |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary shares on issue | 2,185,205,247 | Full share count at start |
| Treasury shares | 30,703,780 | Repurchased, no voting rights |
| Group-held non-voting shares | 239,141 | Left out as well |
| Voting shares | 2,154,262,326 | Number FCA uses for reporting |
| Buyback shares / issued capital | 1.4% | Based on company data |
| Average buyback price | 48.85 euros | Based on company data |
The 30.7 million treasury block is now baked into per-share models, not just an estimate. Unilever said June 5 it bought back 30,703,780 shares for a total of 1,499,999,891 euros. The buyback plan was announced in February and kicked off April 30 to cut capital.
Unilever’s next big date is July 28, when it will release results for the second quarter and first half of 2026. The company has its third-quarter trading update set for Oct. 28, followed by an investor event scheduled for Nov. 4.
Unilever’s last numbers leave investors with few takeaways. For Q1, the company posted 3.8% in underlying sales growth. Volume added 2.9% and price another 0.9%. Turnover dropped 3.3% to 12.6 billion euros, pulled down by currency moves.
| Q1 2026 line | Underlying sales growth | Turnover | Turnover vs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group | 3.8% | 12.6 bln euros | -3.3% |
| Beauty & Wellbeing | 3.6% | 3.1 bln euros | -5.4% |
| Personal Care | 3.7% | 3.3 bln euros | +0.6% |
| Home Care | 6.1% | 3.0 bln euros | -2.6% |
| Foods | 2.2% | 3.2 bln euros | -5.6% |
Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez said in its Q1 report that the business saw “volume-led growth driven by our Power Brands” to start the year. The firm stuck with its 2026 guidance, expecting full-year underlying sales growth to come in at the lower end of its 4%-6% range. Underlying volume growth is still forecast at at least 2%, with a slight operating margin increase from 20.0% in 2025.
Foods is the slower business for Unilever, but it’s key to the next balance sheet step. Unilever has struck a deal to merge its Foods segment with McCormick & Co NYSE:MKC. Unilever picks up $15.7 billion in cash, and Unilever plus its shareholders would own 65% of the new joint company on a fully diluted basis. The agreement puts Unilever Foods’ enterprise value at $44.8 billion — that’s 3.6x sales and 13.8x EBITDA, based on McCormick’s one-month volume-weighted average price of $57.84.
Unilever said it plans to use cash from the McCormick deal to fund up to 6 billion euros in share buybacks from 2026 to 2029. The company is projecting $600 million in annual cost synergies, after reinvesting for growth, with another $100 million of savings set to be reinvested as well. Unilever expects to close the deal by mid-2027.
Fernandez said in April the McCormick deal aims at “unlocking volume growth,” according to Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman. He also told Ackerman that Unilever’s problem is it “has not delivered consistently enough” and he wants to see a “consistent path of more than 2% volume growth”. Unilever
The July 28 release is set to provide the next clear read on that target.
