Unilever 2002 Annual Report Download - page 36

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Unilever Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2002
Operating review by category – Home & Personal Care 33
Report of the Directors
Personal care
2002 results compared with 2001 at
current exchange rates
€million €million %
2002 2001 Change
Turnover 12 245 12 310 (1)%
Operating profit 2 062 2 159 (4)%
Group turnover 12 236 12 307 (1)%
Group operating profit 2 059 2 157 (5)%
2002 results compared with 2001 at
constant 2001 exchange rates
€million €million %
2002 2001 Change
Turnover 13 273 12 310 8%
Operating profit BEIA 2 430 2 219 10%
Exceptional items (166) (49)
Amortisation of goodwill
and intangibles (12) (11)
Operating profit 2 252 2 159 4%
Operating margin 17.0% 17.5%
Operating margin BEIA 18.3% 18.0%
In the personal care sector, Unilever is one of the world
leaders in deodorants, anti-perspirants and hair care products.
Our leading brands, which include Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond’s,
Rexona, Signal and Sunsilk saw underlying sales growth of
10%. Turnover rose by 8%, with operating margin BEIA
increasing to 18.3%.
From New York to New Delhi, image and beauty are
important to millions of people. To meet their desire for
attractive, healthy hair we continued to focus on Dove
and Sunsilk.
The Dove hair range reached the number one position in its
initial launch market of Korea and Taiwan and number two in
Japan, where it was launched in 2001. During the year, we
rolled out Dove shampoo and conditioners across more than
31 countries in Europe, Latin America and South East Asia.
In 2002, the underlying sales growth of Sunsilk was strong
with good performances in Brazil and Mexico and new
market entries in Algeria and Central America. In Ghana
and South Africa we launched our new Afro Hair range.
We further drove Sunsilk’s growth with the launch of new
products, such as permanent colourant Pro-Color in Brazil
and Argentina.
In Canada, we are migrating Pears to the highly successful
North American brand Suave.
Washing away the everyday grime that builds up on skin is
adaily ritual for countless people. In Brazil, although around
70 million consumers have black or mulatto skin, there had
never been a mass-market soap specially designed for them.
To meet their aspirations we launched a Lux variant
specifically for this skin type.
Consumers want to feel clean and fresh all day, however
hectic their lifestyles. This desire helped to drive growth in
our deodorant business.
In 2002, the underlying sales growth of Axe was 17%,
driven by powerful innovation in the core body spray
range, including the launch of a new longer lasting 24-hour
formulation. We launched Axe in North America with a
campaign targeting young men between 14 and 24 – a
group that spends around $8 billion a year on personal
grooming products.
Rexona enjoyed strong growth with the best performance
coming from our anti-perspirant deodorant for men. Rexona
for Men grew by 30% in the core regions of Europe and
Latin America.
A clean, bright smile can say more than words, whatever
language you speak. In 2002, we sought to reinforce the
strength of our Signal brand through a strong competitive
position in the electric toothbrush market. We launched the
first electric toothbrush to offer the choice of two heads –
for cleaning and whitening.
Across the Home & Personal Care business our strong focus
on leading brands and global innovations has left us well
placed for further growth.