Global. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman defended his balance of growth and margin after inestability of the company caused by Kraft-Heinz's unsolicited offer."Unilever CEO defends balance between growth and margins Reuters Text Size A A A By Martinne Geller (Reuters) - Unilever chief executive Paul Polman defended his balance of growth and margin by making passionate comments in a debate sparked by unsolicited Kraft-Heinz bidding this year and weak third quarter data. Pressed to show that it can accelerate returns as an independent company after rejecting Kraft-Heinz's $ 143 billion bid, maker of the Dove soap and the Magnum ice cream pledged in April to raise its operating margin to 20 percent in Investors applauded the target, but some analysts worried that marketing would be reduced, which could affect long-term sales growth. A surprising slowdown in the third quarter fueled these fears. On Thursday night, at a two-day investor meeting in New Jersey, Polman noted that Unilever is doing nothing that could hurt volume growth. Polman said the reduction in total marketing spending was due to efficiency measures and criticized shareholders for pushing for margins, then changing their tone. Unilever stock prices remain 24 percent higher than Kraft's approach, but have retreated more than 8 percent since last month's results. Polman, who has been in the lead for nearly nine years, also acknowledged the possible end of his term on Thursday, a week after Britain's Sky News reported that Unilever hired a company to recruit executives to find a successor to it ."http://hogar.intelect.com.mx/notes/global-unilever-chief-executive-paul-polman-defended-his-balance-of-growth-and-margin-in-a-debate-generated-by-kraft-heinzs-unsolicited-offer-this-year-and-weak-third-quarter-datahttp://hogar.intelect.com.mx/@@site-logo/logoAllen.png
Global. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman defended his balance of growth and margin after inestability of the company caused by Kraft-Heinz's unsolicited offer.
"Unilever CEO defends balance between growth and margins Reuters Text Size A A A By Martinne Geller (Reuters) - Unilever chief executive Paul Polman defended his balance of growth and margin by making passionate comments in a debate sparked by unsolicited Kraft-Heinz bidding this year and weak third quarter data. Pressed to show that it can accelerate returns as an independent company after rejecting Kraft-Heinz's $ 143 billion bid, maker of the Dove soap and the Magnum ice cream pledged in April to raise its operating margin to 20 percent in Investors applauded the target, but some analysts worried that marketing would be reduced, which could affect long-term sales growth. A surprising slowdown in the third quarter fueled these fears. On Thursday night, at a two-day investor meeting in New Jersey, Polman noted that Unilever is doing nothing that could hurt volume growth. Polman said the reduction in total marketing spending was due to efficiency measures and criticized shareholders for pushing for margins, then changing their tone. Unilever stock prices remain 24 percent higher than Kraft's approach, but have retreated more than 8 percent since last month's results. Polman, who has been in the lead for nearly nine years, also acknowledged the possible end of his term on Thursday, a week after Britain's Sky News reported that Unilever hired a company to recruit executives to find a successor to it ."
Unilever CEO defends balance between growth and margins
Reuters Text Size A A A By Martinne Geller
(Reuters) - Unilever chief executive Paul Polman defended his balance of growth and margin by making passionate comments in a debate sparked by unsolicited Kraft-Heinz bidding this year and weak third quarter data.
Pressed to show that it can accelerate returns as an independent company after rejecting Kraft-Heinz's $ 143 billion bid, maker of the Dove soap and the Magnum ice cream pledged in April to raise its operating margin to 20 percent in Investors applauded the target, but some analysts worried that marketing would be reduced, which could affect long-term sales growth.
A surprising slowdown in the third quarter fueled these fears.
On Thursday night, at a two-day investor meeting in New Jersey, Polman noted that Unilever is doing nothing that could hurt volume growth.
Polman said the reduction in total marketing spending was due to efficiency measures and criticized shareholders for pushing for margins, then changing their tone.
Unilever stock prices remain 24 percent higher than Kraft's approach, but have retreated more than 8 percent since last month's results.
Polman, who has been in the lead for nearly nine years, also acknowledged the possible end of his term on Thursday, a week after Britain's Sky News reported that Unilever hired a company to recruit executives to find a successor to it .
