Blueprint
FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the
month of April, 2019
UNILEVER
PLC
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
UNILEVER HOUSE, BLACKFRIARS, LONDON, ENGLAND
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports
under
cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form
20-F..X.. Form 40-F
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in
paper
as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):_____
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in
paper
as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):_____
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information
contained
in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the
Commission
pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.
Yes
No .X..
If
"Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant
in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- _______
Exhibit
99 attached hereto is incorporated herein by reference.
Signatures
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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UNILEVER
PLC
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/S/ R SOTAMAA
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BY R SOTAMAA
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CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER AND GROUP SECRETARY
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Date:
18 April, 2019
EXHIBIT INDEX
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EXHIBIT
NUMBER
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EXHIBIT
DESCRIPTION
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99
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Notice
to London Stock Exchange dated 18
April 2019
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1st Quarter 2019 Trading Statement
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Exhibit
99
UNILEVER TRADING STATEMENT FIRST QUARTER 2019
Performance highlights
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Underlying performance
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GAAP measures
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vs 2018
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vs 2018
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Underlying sales
growth (USG)(a)
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3.1%
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Turnover
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€12.4bn
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(1.6)%
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Quarterly dividend
payable in June 2019
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€0.4104 per
share
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(a)
USG does not
include price growth in Venezuela and Argentina. See page 6 for
further details.
●
Underlying sales
grew 3.1% with 1.2% from volume and 1.9% from price
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Underlying sales in
emerging markets grew 5.0%
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Turnover decreased
1.6% driven by the disposal of spreads
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Quarterly dividend
increased by 6% to €0.4104 per share
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Alan
Jope: Chief Executive Officer statement
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“We have delivered a solid start that keeps us on
track for our full year expectations. Growth was led by emerging
markets and was balanced between volume and price.
Accelerating
growth is our number one priority. It requires both great execution
and a continued strategic shift into faster growth segments and
channels. We saw good performance in key growth channels including
out of home and e-commerce and benefited from stronger global
innovations and faster and more relevant local innovation. The
acquisitions we have made since 2015 collectively grew double-digit
in the first quarter. With the leadership changes announced in
March, we are building the right team to drive our growth
agenda.
For the
full year we continue to expect underlying sales growth to be in
the lower half of our multi-year 3% – 5% range, an
improvement in underlying operating margin that keeps us on track
for the 2020 target and another year of strong free cash
flow.”
18
April 2019
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FIRST
QUARTER OPERATIONAL REVIEW: DIVISIONS
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First
Quarter 2019
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(unaudited)
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Turnover
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USG*
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UVG
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UPG*
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€bn
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%
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%
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%
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Unilever
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12.4
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3.1
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1.2
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1.9
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Beauty
& Personal Care
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5.2
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3.1
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1.9
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1.2
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Home
Care
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2.7
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6.0
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1.1
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4.8
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Foods
& Refreshment
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4.5
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1.5
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0.5
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1.0
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*
Wherever referenced in this announcement, USG and UPG do not
include price growth in Venezuela and Argentina, as explained more
fully on page 6. See page 23 to 24 of the Unilever Annual Report
and Accounts 2018 for definitions of USG and UPG.
Our markets: We estimate that the markets in which we
operate are growing around 3%. The emerging markets improved
slightly compared with the fourth quarter led by South East Asia
and Brazil. In India markets grew well albeit slightly slower than
the fourth quarter. High inflation weighed on global market volume
growth. Growth remains weak in the developed markets.
Unilever overall performance: Underlying sales growth was 3.1%, led
by our emerging market business which grew 5.0%. Growth was
balanced between volume and price and the pick-up in volume,
compared to the fourth quarter, was helped by sustained momentum in
South East Asia and North Asia. Price growth from Argentina, which
would have added 80bps to reported USG, was excluded due to its
hyperinflationary status whilst the volume decline reduced group
underlying sales growth by 10bps. Turnover decreased 1.6% to
€12.4 billion, driven by the disposal of spreads which we
completed in July 2018.
Beauty & Personal Care
Underlying
sales grew 3.1%. Skin care and deodorants had a good start, whilst
hair and skin cleansing grew modestly. Sales in oral care declined
due to challenging market conditions.
Our
global brands were helped by innovations including the launch of a
new patented anti-perspirant technology in our Rexona Clinical Protection
range and Dove foaming handwash in North America,
with five times more moisturisers than the leading hand wash.
Ponds and Sunsilk also grew well. A further increase in the number of local
innovations is helping us to capture emerging trends better and
faster than ever before, such as our St. Ives facial mists, an on-trend new
format and Love
Beauty & Planet continued
to build scale. Our acquisitions performed strongly –
Dollar Shave Club rolled out
a new ‘full-service model’ designed to make it easier
for subscribers to add a full range of grooming products to their
monthly regime and Equilibra, our nutritional supplements
brand, which is not yet included in USG, positions us well to
address the trend towards natural health, beauty and wellbeing.
Prestige delivered another
quarter of double-digit growth and Schmidt’s and Quala, both now included in USG, grew
strongly, helped by their expansion into other personal care
categories.
Home Care
Underlying
sales grew 6.0%. Fabric solutions and home and hygiene had a strong
start whilst fabric sensations grew modestly. The life essentials
category was flat.
Our
strategic focus on premium formats in fabric solutions led to
double-digit growth in liquids and capsules and we saw good
performance from a new range of Domestos toilet blocks. Many of our
brands benefited from the naturals trend which helped to deliver
good performance for Seventh
Generation, Sunlight
and our new Omo Eco Active
range. We will further address the trend towards naturals with our
newest brand Love, Home &
Planet which launched this quarter. Blueair returned to growth.
Foods & Refreshment
Underlying
sales grew 1.5%. Ice cream had a strong start to the year, whilst
sales in tea and savoury were flat. Dressings, which was impacted
by continued high promotional intensity and the later timing of
Easter, declined.
Our actions to modernise our portfolio to meet the trends towards
authentic, organic and natural, healthy and on-the-go products are
working, with good performance on bouillons and snack pots and
encouraging early performance of a new range of Knorr protein and fibre rich soups in Turkey.
Hellmann’s
continued to be held back by
promotional intensity particularly in the US. Challenges in
developed market black tea offset good growth from
Pukka, our new organic Lipton range and green tea in India. Innovation
continued to drive strong performance in ice cream helped by the
roll out of Kinder®
range across Europe, while Magnum was helped by innovations such as
a new white chocolate & cookie variant. Sir Kensington’s, Pukka and Weis were all up double-digits, helped
by distribution gains.
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FIRST
QUARTER OPERATIONAL REVIEW: GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
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(unaudited)
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First
Quarter 2019
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Turnover
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USG
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UVG
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UPG
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€bn
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%
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%
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%
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Unilever
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12.4
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3.1
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1.2
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1.9
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Asia/AMET/RUB
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5.9
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6.0
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3.3
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2.7
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The Americas
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3.9
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0.4
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(1.6)
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2.1
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Europe
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2.6
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0.7
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0.8
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(0.2)
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(unaudited)
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First
Quarter 2019
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Turnover
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USG
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UVG
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UPG
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€bn
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%
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%
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%
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Developed
markets
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4.8
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0.3
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0.4
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(0.1)
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Emerging
markets
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7.6
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5.0
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1.7
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3.2
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North
America
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2.2
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0.4
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0.2
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0.3
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Latin
America
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1.7
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0.4
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(4.0)
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4.6
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Asia/AMET/RUB
Underlying
sales grew 6.0% with more than half from volume. South East Asia
grew well helped by stronger, more locally relevant, innovation and
improving market conditions. In North Asia growth continued to be
helped by strong performance in e-commerce and South Asia had a
good start, in slightly softer markets. In Turkey, volumes returned
to positive despite significant levels of inflation, demonstrating
our ability to manage through significant currency volatility.
Africa declined due to trade disruption surrounding the elections
in Nigeria and the introduction of a new currency in
Zimbabwe.
The Americas
Underlying
sales in Latin America grew 0.4% with volumes down 4.0%. Sales in
Brazil grew mid-single digits, slightly ahead of our markets, with
volumes slightly negative. In Argentina volumes declined 11% as
high levels of inflation continued to weigh on consumer demand,
price growth was not included in our USG. In Mexico volumes
declined, driven by retailer destocking. Quala, which is included in underlying
sales growth from March, performed well.
Underlying
sales in North America grew 0.4% with 0.2% from volume despite a
strong comparator. Beauty & Personal Care, ice cream and
Seventh Generation all had a
good start but growth was held back by weaker performance in
savoury and dressings which were impacted by the phasing of
retailer promotional events.
Europe
Underlying
sales grew 0.7% with 0.8% from volume and slightly negative
pricing. Central and Eastern Europe continued to grow well, whilst
both the UK and Italy were helped by strong ice cream performance.
France grew modestly lapping a weak comparator, whilst retail
conditions in Germany were extremely challenging.
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COMPETITION
INVESTIGATIONS
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As
previously disclosed, along with other consumer products companies
and retail customers, Unilever is involved in a number of ongoing
investigations by national competition authorities, including those
within Italy, Greece and South Africa. These proceedings and
investigations are at various stages and concern a variety of
product markets. Where appropriate, provisions are made and
contingent liabilities disclosed in relation to such
matters.
Ongoing
compliance with competition laws is of key importance to Unilever.
It is Unilever’s policy to co-operate fully with competition
authorities whenever questions or issues arise. In addition the
Group continues to reinforce and enhance its internal competition
law training and compliance programme on an ongoing
basis.
The
Boards have determined to pay a quarterly interim dividend for
Q1 2019 at the following rates
which are equivalent in value between the two companies at the rate
of exchange applied under the terms of the Equalisation
Agreement:
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Per
Unilever N.V. ordinary share:
Per
Unilever PLC ordinary share:
Per
Unilever N.V. New York share:
Per
Unilever PLC American Depositary Receipt:
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€
0.4104
£
0.3546
US$
0.4641
US$
0.4641
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The
quarterly interim dividends have been determined in euros and
converted into equivalent sterling and US dollar amounts using
exchange rates issued by WM/Reuters on 16 April 2019.
US
dollar cheques for the quarterly interim dividend will be mailed on
5 June 2019 to holders of record at the close of business on 3 May
2019. In the case of the NV New York shares, Netherlands
withholding tax will be deducted.
The
quarterly dividend calendar for the remainder of 2019 will be as
follows:
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Announcement
Date
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Ex-Dividend
Date
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Record
Date
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Payment
Date
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Quarterly dividend
– for Q1 2019
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18
April 2019
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2 May
2019
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3 May
2019
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5 June
2019
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Quarterly dividend
– for Q2 2019
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25 July 2019
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8
August 2019
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9
August 2019
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11
September 2019
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Quarterly dividend
– for Q3 2019
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17
October 2019
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31
October 2019
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1
November 2019
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4
December 2019
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SEGMENT
INFORMATION – DIVISIONS |
(unaudited)
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First Quarter
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Beauty
& Personal
Care
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Home
Care
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Foods
& Refreshment
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Total
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Turnover (€
million)
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2018
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4,908
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2,560
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5,154
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12,622
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2019
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5,204
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2,691
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4,521
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12,416
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Change
(%)
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6.0
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5.1
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(12.3)
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(1.6)
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Impact of:
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Exchange
rates* (%)
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2.0
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(1.1)
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0.3
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0.7
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Acquisitions
(%)
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0.8
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0.3
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0.4
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0.5
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Disposals
(%)
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-
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-
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(14.2)
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(5.8)
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Underlying sales growth
(%)
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3.1
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6.0
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1.5
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3.1
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Price*
(%)
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1.2
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4.8
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1.0
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1.9
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Volume
(%)
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1.9
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1.1
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0.5
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1.2
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SEGMENT
INFORMATION – GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
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(unaudited)
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First Quarter
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Asia
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AMET
/
RUB
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The
Americas
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Europe
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Total
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Turnover (€
million)
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2018
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5,719
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3,931
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2,972
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12,622
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2019
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5,931
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3,872
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2,613
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12,416
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Change
(%)
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3.7
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(1.5)
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(12.1)
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(1.6)
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Impact of:
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Exchange
rates* (%)
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-
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2.3
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-
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0.7
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Acquisitions
(%)
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-
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1.0
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1.0
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0.5
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Disposals
(%)
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(2.2)
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(5.1)
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(13.5)
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(5.8)
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Underlying sales growth
(%)
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6.0
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0.4
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0.7
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3.1
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Price*
(%)
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2.7
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2.1
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(0.2)
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1.9
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Volume
(%)
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3.3
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(1.6)
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0.8
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1.2
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*
Underlying price growth in Venezuela and Argentina has been
excluded when calculating the price growth in the tables above, and
an equal and opposite adjustment made in the calculation of
exchange rate impact. See page 6 for further details.
In our
financial reporting we use certain measures that are not defined by
generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) such as IFRS. We
believe this information, along with comparable GAAP measurements,
is useful to investors because it provides a basis for measuring
our operating performance, and our ability to retire debt and
invest in new business opportunities. Our management uses these
financial measures, along with the most directly comparable GAAP
financial measures, in evaluating our operating performance and
value creation. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be
considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial
information presented in compliance with GAAP. Wherever appropriate
and practical, we provide reconciliations to relevant GAAP
measures. The non-GAAP measures used in this announcement are
underlying sales growth, underlying volume growth and underlying
price growth (see below).
Underlying sales growth (USG)
Underlying
sales growth (USG) refers to the increase in turnover for the
period, excluding any change in turnover resulting from
acquisitions, disposals and changes in currency. We believe this
measure provides valuable additional information on the underlying
sales performance of the business and is a key measure used
internally. The impact of acquisitions and disposals is excluded
from USG for a period of 12 calendar months from the applicable
closing date. Turnover from acquired brands that are launched in
countries where they were not previously sold is included in USG as
such turnover is more attributable to our existing sales and
distribution network than the acquisition itself. Also excluded is
the impact of price growth from countries where the impact of
consumer price inflation (CPI) rates has escalated to extreme
levels.
There
are two countries where we have determined extreme levels of CPI
exist. The first is Venezuela where in Q4 2017 inflation rates
exceeded 1,000% and management considered that the situation would
persist for some time. Consequently, price growth in Venezuela has
been excluded from USG since Q4 2017. The second is Argentina,
which from Q3 2018 has been accounted for in accordance with IAS
29, and thus from Q3 2018 Argentina price growth is excluded from
USG. The adjustment made at Group level as a result of these two
exclusions was a reduction in price growth of 1.0% for the first
quarter. This treatment for both countries will be kept under
regular review.
The
reconciliation of changes in the GAAP measure turnover to USG is
provided on page 5.
Underlying volume growth (UVG)
Underlying
volume growth (UVG) is part of USG and means, for the applicable
period, the increase in turnover in such period calculated as the
sum of (i) the increase in turnover attributable to the volume of
products sold; and (ii) the increase in turnover attributable to
the composition of products sold during such period. UVG therefore
excludes any impact on USG due to changes in prices. The measures
and the related turnover GAAP measure are set out on page
5.
Underlying price growth (UPG)
Underlying
price growth (UPG) is part of USG and means, for the applicable
period, the increase in turnover attributable to changes in prices
during the period. UPG therefore excludes the impact to USG due to
(i) the volume of products sold; and (ii) the composition of
products sold during the period. In determining changes in price we
exclude the impact of price growth in Argentina and Venezuela as
explained in USG above. The measures and the related turnover GAAP
measure are set out on page 5.
This
announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including
‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Words such as ‘will’, ‘aim’,
‘expects’, ‘anticipates’,
‘intends’, ‘looks’, ‘believes’,
‘vision’, or the negative of these terms and other
similar expressions of future performance or results, and their
negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current
expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and
other factors affecting the Unilever Group (the
‘Group’). They are not historical facts, nor are they
guarantees of future performance.
Because
these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
there are important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. Among other risks and uncertainties,
the material or principal factors which could cause actual results
to differ materially are: Unilever’s global brands not
meeting consumer preferences; Unilever’s ability to innovate
and remain competitive; Unilever’s investment choices in its
portfolio management; inability to find sustainable solutions to
support long-term growth including to plastic packaging; the effect
of climate change on Unilever’s business; significant changes
or deterioration in customer relationships; the recruitment and
retention of talented employees; disruptions in our supply chain
and distribution; increases or volatility in the cost of raw
materials and commodities; the production of safe and high quality
products; secure and reliable IT infrastructure; execution of
acquisitions, divestitures and business transformation projects;
economic, social and political risks and natural disasters;
financial risks; failure to meet high and ethical standards; and
managing regulatory, tax and legal matters. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Except
as required by any applicable law or regulation, the Group
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect any change in the Group’s
expectations with regard thereto or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the
Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London
Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and
Exchange Commission, including in the Annual Report on Form 20-F
2018 and the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2018.
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Media: Media Relations Team
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Investors: Investor Relations
Team
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UK
or
NL
or
|
+44 78
2527 3767
+44 77
7999 9683
+31 10
217 4844
+32 494
60 4906
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lucila.zambrano@unilever.com
JSibun@tulchangroup.com
els-de.bruin@unilever.com
freek.bracke@unilever.com
|
+44 20
7822 6830
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investor.relations@unilever.com
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There
will be a web cast of the results presentation available
at:
www.unilever.com/investor-relations/results-and-presentations/latest-results