Headlines from Unilever’s full-year results were strong and show signs of improvement. Unilever delivered underlying sales growth of 3.5% in 2025, which accelerated to 4.2% in the fourth quarter, as the consumer goods giant completed its strategic transformation following the demerger of its Ice Cream business.
However, revenue slipped 3.8% to €50.5 billion on a reported basis due to adverse currency impacts and disposals, despite volume growth strengthening to 1.5% for the full year and 2.1% in Q4.
The acceleration in the fourth quarter should be a reason for optimism.
Unilever’s Power Brands, representing 78% of turnover, led performance with 4.3% underlying sales growth and 2.2% volume growth. Beauty & Wellbeing posted the strongest growth at 4.3%, followed by Personal Care at 4.7%.
“Unilever’s fourth-quarter underlying sales landed ahead of market expectations, driven by impressive volume growth. The pace of sales growth ramped up throughout the year, highlighting that the group’s innovation plans and sharpened focus on emerging markets are bearing fruit,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
The fly in the ointment and the reason why shares were trading down by around 2% on Thursday was a disappointing outlook.
Unilever said: “2026 growth is expected to be at the bottom end of the underlying sales growth range reflecting the slower market conditions.” This isn’t something investors want to hear.
After years of struggling with sales growth amid inflationary pressures and global economic uncertainty, the fourth quarter could have been a turning point for the group. But the outlook has dashed those hopes.