Unilever has restored its financial targets after scrapping them last year, as recoveries in China and India helped it increase underlying sales by 3.5 per cent in the fourth quarter.
The maker of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Magnum ice cream brought back its target of 3 to 5 per cent underlying sales growth. The group plans to focus its portfolio on five “high growth” areas, including plant-based foods and high-end beauty products.
It set out the plan following the unification of its formerly Anglo-Dutch structure into a single UK company late last year, which chief executive Alan Jope says will enable more acquisitions and disposals to help meet growth targets.
Underlying sales growth for 2020 came in at 1.9 per cent, in line with analysts’ expectations. That brought underlying operating profit to €9.4bn, down 5.8 per cent from a year earlier because of unfavourable currency movements.
Mr Jope said: “While volatility and unpredictability will…
