Consumer goods giant Unilever revealed it has already axed around 6,000 jobs so far as part of an ongoing major overhaul that will also see it spin off its ice cream arm.
The group behind well-known brands such as Marmite and Dove soap said it was “ahead of plan” on the restructure, which was announced last year and will lead to 7,500 job cuts worldwide in a bid to save 800 million euros (£683.9 million).
Unilever said about 6,000 of those roles had already been stripped out by the end of the first quarter and 550 million euros (£470.2 million) of the cost savings are set to be achieved in 2025.
The group, which has its headquarters in Blackfriars, London, employed around 6,000 employees in the UK and 128,000 employees globally before the restructure.
The firm said it was pressing ahead with the separation and listing of its Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice cream arm, to be called The Magnum Ice Cream Company, in the final three months of 2025, while it will operate as a standalone business from July 1.
The business will have its primary listing in Amsterdam, with secondary listings in London and New York.
Unilever said it expected the impact of new trade tariffs on its profitability “to be limited and manageable”.
“All this being said, we are conscious that the macroeconomic environment, currency stability and consumer sentiment remain uncertain and we will be agile in adjusting our plans as necessary,” it added.
Its first-quarter update showed sales lifted 3% on an underlying basis, but were down 0.9% at 14.8 billion euros (£12.7 billion) on a reported basis and including a hit from disposals and a currency exchange impact.
Unilever stuck by its outlook for underlying sales growth of 3% to 5% for the year as a whole.
Recently appointed chief executive Fernando Fernandez, who took over in March after the abrupt departure of former boss Hein Schumacher, said: “Heightened global macroeconomic uncertainty is a fact; however the quality of our innovation programme, the strong investment behind our brands and our improving competitiveness give us confidence we will deliver on our full-year plans.”
