Unilever plc (LON: ULVR) is in focus on Thursday after a Bloomberg report said the multinational was considering selling its U.S. ice cream brands.
CEO Jope refrains from commenting on ‘rumour’
Such a move could be worth as much as $3.0 billion. Nothing is carved in stone, though, and the consumer goods company may very well decide against the said divestment, the anonymous sources confirmed.
Unilever’s U.S. ice cream brands include notable names like Klondike and Breyers. Reacting to the speculation on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”, CEO Alan Jope said:
We obviously wouldn’t comment on a rumour one way or another. But it’s true that we’ve been taking decisive action on slow growth parts of the portfolio, not just spreads and teas, but some of our slow growing brands in other parts of the world.
Unilever stock has climbed nearly 20% over the past two months.
CEO Jope’s comments on ongoing transformation
Earlier this year, Invezz reported activist Nelson Peltz to have joined Unilever as a non-executive director, following its failed attempt to buy the consumer health business of GSK plc.
With him, the London-headquartered firm is in transformation aimed at fixing its recent lacklustre growth. CEO Jope added:
We have a clear strategy on where we’ll invest by geography, category, and channel. Nelson is very supportive of the strategy on shifting our portfolio and being focused on operational discipline.
In October, Unilever said its underlying sales in the third financial quarter were up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis.
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