 |
|
|
|||||
Unilever surprised investors on Tuesday by ousting chief executive Hein Schumacher and replacing him with finance chief Fernando Fernandez, who will focus on speeding up the execution of the consumer group’s turnaround strategy. Unilever’s board, which includes billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, was unified in its decision to oust CEO Schumacher, a source familiar with the board’s thinking told Reuters. Schumacher was surprised by the move, but the decision involved “nothing untoward”, the person said. In an email to associates, Schumacher defended his approach and record as CEO and said he regretted leaving the company earlier than anticipated. “The board is eager to step up the pace of our strategy execution and realise swift value creation underscored by a change in leadership,” he said in the email, which was shared with Reuters. The CEO’s sudden departure after less than two years in the job hit Unilever’s shares, which fell as much as 3.4% on Tuesday. They had gained more than 9% since Schumacher took the helm on July 1, 2023. The consumer goods industry has had a difficult time coping with a supply chain crunch triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, plus sky-high commodity prices and an energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine. Profit margins have been squeezed and sales volumes hit by consumers switching to cheaper options. Unilever, which gave no specific reason for the CEO change, is facing pressure from investors to revitalise its fortunes and the top management upheaval comes just weeks after Unilever announced underwhelming full-year earnings. Nestle CEO Mark Schneider was ousted last year after several quarters of weak sales volume growth. Unilever’s management change was made after a board meeting on Monday, another source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The board concluded that Fernandez, who has been with Unilever for nearly 40 years, was the right person to execute the company’s strategy, the source said. Schumacher’s appointment and strategic changes had been welcomed by Peltz, who built a stake in the company in 2022 and sits on Unilever’s board. “We are gobsmacked at the news that Unilever’s very highly regarded CEO Hein Schumacher is to step down,” RBC Capital analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note. When Schumacher became CEO, analysts and investors had applauded the choice of an external candidate as CEO. Schumacher reset the group’s strategy to address years of underperformance and laid out cost cuts last year, including plans to separate its ice cream division and cut thousands of jobs. The company has tried to step up the pace of asset sales, although some categories, like plant-based meat, are proving hard to exit. Chairman Ian Meakins said the board was impressed by Fernandez’s “decisive and results-oriented approach”, and had given him the task of executing the growth strategy. “There is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results,” Meakins said in a statement. Execution Analysts and investors said the news was unexpected, but Fernandez was a good choice to lead Unilever’s turnaround strategy. “We agree with the board that Fernandez is best placed to accelerate the value unlock,” Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman said in a note. UBS analyst Guillaume Delmas said “execution is key” in the new phase of the company’s strategic journey. Fernandez, 58, has been with Unilever since 1988. Before he became CFO last year, he held a number of roles such as President Latin America and CEO Brazil and President of the Beauty & Wellbeing business. Harsharan Mann in the Global Equities team at Aviva Investors, a Unilever shareholder, said: “We were surprised by the announcement but have a positive view of the CFO He is a 30-year veteran of the business who ran the Beauty and Wellbeing division very well.” In January, Fernandez took up extra responsibilities including overseeing supply chain and procurement. Unilever, which owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, said there was no change to its 2025 outlook or medium-term forecast and the board was committed to “further accelerating” Schumacher’s growth plan. Schumacher, 53, will step down as CEO in March and leave the company on May 31. He is leaving by mutual agreement, the company said. He will be treated as a “good leaver” and will continue to get his 1.85 million euros ($1.94 million) fixed pay until he leaves the business, the company said. He will then get an undisclosed payment for the remainder of this notice period, it said. Srinivas Phatak, currently Unilever’s deputy chief financial officer and group controller, will become acting CFO, while the company looks for a permanent replacement. ($1 = 0.9549 euros) Yadarisa Shabong and Josephine Mason, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Small business owners felt more uncertain about the future in January, as they continue to deal with labor challenges and lingering inflation. According to a monthly poll of small business owners from the National Federation of Independent Business, the uncertainty index in January rose 14 points to 100 the third highest recorded reading, after two months of decline. The NFIB said small business owners are feeling less confident about investing in their business due to uncertain business conditions in the coming months. The response mirrors overall consumer confidence, which plummeted in February, the biggest monthly decline in more than four years, with inflation seemingly stuck and a trade war under President Donald Trump seen by a growing number of Americans as inevitable. In the NFIB poll, optimism fell by 2.3 points in January to 102.8, but remained high. Optimism surged after the presidential election, and the index still topped the the 51-year average of 98 for the third month in a row. Overall, small business owners remain optimistic regarding future business conditions, but uncertainty is on the rise, said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. Hiring challenges continue to frustrate Main Street owners as they struggle to find qualified workers to fill their many open positions. Meanwhile, fewer plan capital investments as they prepare for the months ahead. Eighteen percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, down two points from December and matching labor quality as the top issue. Labor remains a top headache. A seasonally adjusted 35% of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in January, unchanged from December. Of the 52% of owners hiring or trying to hire in January, 90% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. And fewer small businesses are planning capital investments to expand their business. Twenty percent plan capital outlays in the next six months, down seven percentage points from December. Mae Anderson, AP business writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Dennys is the latest restaurant chain to add a temporary egg surcharge due to the rising cost of eggs caused by a nationwide shortage and the current bird flu outbreak. Last month, Waffle House added an upcharge of 50 cents per egg. Meanwhile, many supermarket chains, including Trader Joe’s, Market Basket, and big-box retailers including Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club, have raised prices and limited the number of cartons shoppers can buy. “This pricing decision is market-by-market, and restaurant-by-restaurant due to the regional impacts of the egg shortage,” Dennys told Fast Company in a statement. “We will continue to look for ways to provide options on our menu, including our $2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu.” The restaurant said it would not specify which of its 1,500 locations would see the surcharge as the situation is “fluid.” Once an inexpensive food staple, eggs have soared in price in recent months. As of last week, a dozen white eggs was $8.07, according to CNBC. Bird flu, or avian influenza, has had a crippling effect on the nation’s egg supply, resulting in the death of 18.9 million birds in just the past 30 days, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is a double whammy for Denny’s, which announced more store closings earlier this month as part of the restaurant chains plan to jumpstart its waning growth. Like many fast-food and casual-dining chains, it has been struggling in recent years due to inflation, changing customer habits, and skyrocketing food prices. “We have taken a close look at every restaurant in our domestic portfolio; and as a result, at the end of last year, we announced the decision to close approximately 150 restaurants by the end of 2025,” Denny’s previously told Fast Company. “We began the closing process last year, and we are continuing to work through our plan. More than half of these locations have already closed.” Denny’s said the closures will enable its franchises to open “upwards of 20 new locations in 2025 . . . and remodel some current locations.”
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||