Unilever to scrap 'two-pronged' management
Struggling consumer products group Unilever performed a U-turn today by announcing plans to scrap its dual-chairman structure.
The group said it planned to replace its policy of appointing two chairmen from its Dutch and British arms with a single chief executive and non-executive chairman.
The move contradicts its insistence in November that it had no intention of ending the two-pronged management regime.
The company is following in the footsteps of another Anglo-Dutch firm, Shell, which has also decided to unite under a single board and leadership.
Unilever, whose products include Knorr, BirdsEye, Findus, Magnum ice cream, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Surk, Cif and Dove soap, said today that annual pre-tax profits had slumped 36% to €2.9bn (£1.99bn).
It shocked the London market with a profits warning in September after its Path to Growth transformation programme failed to live up to expectations.
The group said today that the five-year restructuring plan had given it “a stronger portfolio” and a greatly improved cost and capital base.
But it added: “Initial market share gains for the business as a whole in the early years of the programme have not been sustained.
“While it is certainly the case that markets have been tougher in the last 18 months than we had expected, we have also lost some share during that time.”
