Unilever 2001 Annual Report Download - page 27

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Unilever Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2001
OPERATING REVIEW BY CATEGORY –
HOME & PERSONAL CARE
>24
The Home & Personal Care (HPC) division was established
in January 2001, as part of Unilever’s move to a two-
divisional structure.
During the year, our single-minded focus on our global core
brands, such as Dove, Lux, Omo, Sunsilk and Surf, resulted
in improved performances in most categories and regions.
While overall sales grew by 3%, growth of our leading
brands was 6.5%. Total operating profit BEIA rose by 9%
and total operating margin BEIA reached 13.7%.
In November 2001, we announced that we had agreed to
sell DiverseyLever, our institutional and industrial cleaning
business, to Johnson Wax Professional. In December 2001,
we sold our women’s health diagnostics business, Unipath,
to Massachusetts-based Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc.
Both sales reflect our strategic thrust of focusing on our
leading consumer brands.
In 2001, we reshaped our organisation to help ensure
future growth. In HPC, as in Foods, we reorganised our
global research and development network, bringing research
and development into the division. The HPC Executive team
is now responsible for assigning research priorities and
resources, with a new network of global technology centres
delivering innovations. These changes will allow us to
respond more quickly to consumer demands and to focus
on larger-scale innovations.
Home care and professional cleaning
2001 results compared with 2000 at
current exchange rates
€million million %
2001 2000 Change
Total turnover 10 467 10 284 2%
Total operating profit 667 578 15%
Group turnover 10 432 10 258 2%
Group operating profit 666 578 15%
2001 results compared with 2000 at
constant 2000 exchange rates
€million million %
2001 2000 Change
Total turnover 10 884 10 284 6%
Total operating profit BEIA 926 918 1%
Exceptional items (209) (323)
Amortisation of goodwill
and intangibles (19) (16)
Total operating profit 698 579 21%
Total operating margin 6.4% 5.6%
Total operating margin BEIA 8.5% 8.9%
Home care
We are one of the world leaders in domestic home care,
which includes cleaning and hygiene products. Many of our
brands are leaders in their markets, including Cif, Comfort,
Domestos, Omo, Surf and Persil in the UK.
In 2001, sales rose by 6%, however, total operating margin
BEIA was slightly down.
Laundry products remain the bedrock of our HPC business,
generating nearly a third of the division’s income. In 2001,
we retained our clear leadership in tablets in Europe,
however, in Canada and the US, tablets showed slow
consumer uptake.
Total operating
profit BEIA million
Total turnover
million
At current exchange rates
Total operating
profit million
9 126
10 284
10 467
857
917
886
818
578
667
99
00
01
99
00
01
99
00
01