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Diving overview:
- Unilever Chief Financial Officer Fernando Fernandez will take on additional responsibility for supply chain and procurement, digital and technology and business services as part of a wide-ranging leadership shakeup, the global food and homewares retailer announced on Monday.
- As part of the change, Fernandez, a 37-year veteran of the company and the parent company of brands such as Hellmann’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Dove soap, will receive a 7.5 percent reduction in his fixed salary. Unilever said it would receive a raise. The CFO’s expanded responsibilities and other leadership changes will take effect Jan. 1, according to Monday’s announcement.
- The announcement comes as the London-based company seeks to implement its “2030 Growth Action Plan”, a strategy that includes spinning off its ice cream business. Unilever first announced plans to spin off its ice cream brand in March. “They have very different operating models and as a result the board decided that the ice cream spin-off was best suited to the future growth of both ice cream and Unilever.”
Dive Insights:
The changes mark the second major executive shakeup at Unilever in about a year. Fernandez took on the CFO role for the first time in January, and the company also rotated executive roles in its Beauty & Wellness and Home Care division, according to a press release.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Fernandez held various positions at the company, including President of Unilever Latin America, President of Beauty and Wellness, and EVP before taking on the role of Chief Financial Officer. He takes over as CFO from Graeme Pitkethly, who has stepped down as finance chief but will remain on the company’s board until May this year, the company said. As part of his appointment, Fernández is entitled to a fixed salary of €1.175 million per year, plus annual bonuses and relocation support, according to a company release.
Unilever has not only expanded the CFO’s list of responsibilities, but also appointed Reginaldo Ecclissato, currently chief business operations and supply chain officer, as president of One Unilever Markets. Meanwhile, Chief Procurement Officer Willem Uijen will assume the role of Chief Supply Chain Officer and report to Fernandez as CFO.
Fernandez will take on responsibility for technology, procurement and other areas as Unilever embarks on a wide-ranging strategic transformation under CEO Hein Schumacher, who took over as chief executive in July.
Schumacher has defended a growth plan that focuses more on soaps, which account for more than 85% of the company’s “sales,” a type of sales, including Hellmann’s and Dove soaps, according to Unilever data. Unilever also plans to lay off about 7,500 employees under the plan, as well as spin off or sell its ice cream division, which consists of brands such as Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, to streamline its business.
The company said it was “pursuing” a spin-off of its ice cream division when it reported third-quarter results in October, with sales of 2.4 billion euros. Total revenue, or revenue, for the quarter was 15.2 billion euros, the company said.
While the company continues to focus on selling its ice cream business, questions continue to swirl about what form the separation will take. In July, Unilever reportedly began initial talks to sell the business worth about $19.5 billion with potential buyers, including private equity firms including Advent International and Blackstone.
But the company withdrew plans for a potential sale in November in favor of a potential listing of the unit, the Financial Times reported. Some private equity firms are hopeful the company will reconsider a potential sale, Bloomberg reported Monday, noting that bankers have raised about 9 billion euros in debt financing in case the sale is reconsidered.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
