Meeting everyday needs of people everywhere - Unilever

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Selected financial data By operation 00000000000000001111 Fl. million 00511100000 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 0000000000 01111 01111 01111 01111 Turnover Foods 41 690 43 841 47 216 46 385 45 183 Home & Personal Care 28 937 34 583 41 152 41 393 43 588 Other Operations 2 502 2 397 2 232 1 334 1 525 Speciality Chemicals 6 574 6 974 3 997 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 79 703 87 795 94 597 89 112 90 296 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 Operating profit Foods 2 824 3 122 2 737 3 970 3 942 Home & Personal Care 2 458 3 211 4 074 4 611 5 202 Other Operations 225 195 238 1 137 338 Speciality Chemicals 875 990 514 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 6 382 7 518 7 563 9 718 9 482 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 Net operating assets Foods 11 176 11 918 10 784 10 780 11 716 Home & Personal Care 6 190 7 315 7 124 7 259 8 356 Other Operations 839 853 424 365 347 Speciality Chemicals 3 945 4 511 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 22 150 24 597 18 332 18 404 20 419 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 Capital expenditur e Foods 1 614 1 642 1 614 1 708 1 523 Home & Personal Care 870 906 1 117 1 122 1 271 Other Operations 73 83 70 98 81 Speciality Chemicals 513 430 262 11110 01111 01111 01111 01111 3 070 3 061 3 063 2 928 2 875 The principal speciality chemicals businesses were sold in July 1997. Continuing businesses previously reported as Speciality Chemicals have been reallocated to other segments.
About Unilever History and structure of Unilever NV and PLC are the two parent companies of the Unilever Group of companies. NV was incorporated under the name Naamlooze Vennootschap Margarine Unie in the Netherlands in 1927. PLC was incorporated under the name Lever Brothers Limited in Great Britain in 1894. Since 1930 when the Unilever Group was formed, NV and PLC have operated, as nearly as is practicable, as a single entity. They have the same directors, adopt the same accounting principles, and are linked by a series of agreements. The Equalisation Agreement, which regulates the mutual rights of the two sets of shareholders, is particularly important. It makes the position of the shareholders of both companies, as far as possible, the same as if they held shares in a single company. (See Control of Unilever on page 118) NV and PLC are both public companies, with separate stock exchange listings and different shareholders. You cannot convert or exchange the shares of one for shares of the other. There is no fixed relationship between the trading prices of their shares – the relative share prices on the various markets can, and do, fluctuate from day to day and hour to hour. This happens for various reasons, including changes in exchange rates. Over time the prices of NV and PLC shares do stay in close relation to each other, in particular because of our equalisation arrangements. (See Control of Unilever on page 118) NV and PLC are holding and service companies. Our businesses are carried out by our Group companies around the world. The holding companies have agreed to co-operate in all areas, to exchange all relevant business information and to ensure all group companies act accordingly. In most cases, shares in the group companies are held ultimately by NV or PLC. The main exception is that US companies are owned by both – 75% by NV and 25% by PLC. This arrangement is designed to create a balance between the funds generated by the NV and PLC parts of the Group. (See Control of Unilever on page 118) Business structur e Unilever is organised, and its internal results are reported, on both a product and a regional basis. On a product basis, Category Directors are responsible for developing category strategies for implementation across Unilever’s operations and they work closely with Business Groups to develop regional strategies. They are also responsible for directing and managing the allocation of corporate resources for research and development and the innovation network. On a regional basis, Unilever’s operations are organised into twelve Business Groups. These are regionally based with the exception of DiverseyLever, a worldwide grouping of professional cleaning products and services. Western Europe and North America are further sub-divided by Foods and Home & Personal Care product categories. The individual operating companies, which form the core building blocks of the Unilever organisation, come within the Business Groups. The President of each Business Group is accountable for the performance of the companies in his group. (See Business Group Presidents on page 45) Description of business Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods in foods, household care and personal product categories. It also has other operations, mainly plantations. Foods Oil and Dairy Based Foods and Bakery We are the market leader in margarine and related spreads in most countries in Europe and North America. We sell spreads, oils and cooking fats in more than 50 countries including Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey. In Western Europe and North America, consumer interest remains strong in spreads offering qualities related to ‘health’ and ‘taste’, although overall consumption in the sector is declining. Important brands in these markets are Becel (the Netherlands), Flora (UK), Fruit d’Or (France), Rama (Germany) and Country Crock and Take Control (USA). In many other countries, sales of spreads are growing as a result of changes in eating habits and increases in population and personal incomes. We sell olive oil in a number of European countries and North America under the Bertolli brand name and in France under the Puget brand.
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Meeting everyday needs of people everywhere - Unilever

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