Report & accounts 2002 in full - Unilever

Growth was broad based across categories with the major
contributions from marketing activities behind Knorr, Lipton,
Lux, Dove and laundry brands. South Africa performed
particularly well with good sales growth especially in Omo,
Sunsilk, Rama, Axe and Lux in Home & Personal Care and
Knorr, Lipton and Flora pro •activ in Foods. In Turkey, the
weak economy has led to consumer downtrading and
market contraction and our sales have declined as a result.
Elsewhere in the region we have strengthened our market
position, particularly in Algeria, Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and
West Africa.
Operating margin BEIA increased to 11.3% after an increase
in investment behind the leading brands.
2001 results compared with 2000 at
current exchange rates
€ million € million %
2001 2000 Change
Turnover 3 455 3 512 (2)%
Operating profit 215 329 (35)%
Group turnover 3 191 3 296 (3)%
Group operating profit 203 321 (37)%
2001 results compared with 2000 at
constant 2000 exchange rates
€ million € million %
2001 2000 Change
Turnover 3 843 3 499 10%
Operating profit BEIA 422 352 20%
Exceptional items (160) (16)
Amortisation of goodwill
and intangibles (28) (6)
Operating profit 234 330 (29)%
Operating margin 6.1% 9.4%
Operating margin BEIA 11.0% 10.0%
Turnover grew by 10% with an underlying sales growth
of 7%. Price increases had priority to protect margins in
countries where there had been devaluation, in particular
South Africa and Turkey. Growth was broad based across
our brands, with the strongest country contributions coming
from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco. There were
good performances by Omo, relaunched with an improved
formulation, Close-up in West Africa, where we continued
to strengthen our position in oral care, and by Dove.
Operating margin BEIA at 11.0% in Africa, Middle East and
Turkey was ahead of 2000, reflecting focused management
in challenging economic conditions.
Unilever Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2002
Operating review by region 21
Asia and Pacific
8 091
00
8 046
01
7 865
02
Turnover
€ million
At current exchange rates
909
00
Operating profit
BEIA € million
2002 results compared with 2001 at
current exchange rates
€ million € million %
2002 2001 Change
Turnover 7 865 8 046 (2)%
Operating profit 1 098 880 25%
Group turnover 7 679 7 846 (2)%
Group operating profit 1 077 862 25%
2002 results compared with 2001 at
constant 2001 exchange rates € million € million %
2002 2001 Change
Turnover 8 242 8 046 2%
Operating profit BEIA 1 166 1 077 8%
Exceptional items 13 (157)
Amortisation of goodwill
and intangibles (32) (40)
Operating profit 1 147 880 30%
Operating margin 13.9% 10.9%
Operating margin BEIA 14.1% 13.4%
Operating profit
€ million
Underlying sales grew by 5%. Including the impact of
disposals, turnover grew by 2%.
1 077
01
Home & Personal Care grew well across both categories and
countries. Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam performed
particularly well and skin, hair and deodorants all grew at
over 10% across the region through innovations and
support behind Dove, Lifebuoy and Pond’s. Underlying
sales growth in India accelerated through the year to reach
3% for the full year despite the planned harvesting of
non-leading brands. The stronger second half in India has
been led by Fair and Lovely with the launch of a herbal
variant, Pond’s with new small packs, the launch of a new
Vaseline variant for treating damaged skin and good
growth in laundry.
In Foods, good growth in South East Asia reflects the
Bestfoods brands benefiting from the Unilever distribution
system, innovation in Knorr, and a strengthening of the
1 115
02
781
00
880
01
1 098
02
Report of the Directors