Unilever to Divest Spreads Business to Quicken Growth

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

As part of a global restructuring of its businesses, the parent company of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Unilever Group, has informed stakeholders of its plans to sell its spreads business.

Unilever Nigeria, in a letter to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, however, stressed that this would not have immediate effect on its activities.

Chairman of the firm, Mr Marjin Dekkers, explained that the decision has the full backing of the board of directors.

On his part, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Paul Polman, pointed out that the divestment would lead to accelerated development of its portfolio.

According to him, the future of the spreads business now lies outside the Unilever Group.

“We remain on track to deliver underlying sales growth ahead of our markets, in the 3-5 percent range, and we expect an underlying operating margin improvement of at least 80bps.

“We feel confident that the changes we are announcing today will accelerate the transformation of Unilever and the delivery of sustainable shareholder value over the long term,” Mr Polman expressed optimism.

At the stock exchange yesterday, Unilever Nigeria’s share price remained flat at N33.15 per share.