Unilever 2008 Annual Report Download - page 8
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Patrick Cescau
On behalf of the Directors and everyone
at Unilever, I want to express our
appreciation to Patrick Cescau for
his services to Unilever over the last
35 years. By any standards, Patrick’s
career has been a remarkable one,
culminating with his appointment
in 2005 as Unilever’s first ever Chief
Executive Officer.
Since that time he has helped to
transform the company. Significant
organisational change – particularly
the implementation of ‘One Unilever’
– has been accompanied by a
consistent improvement in business
results and overall performance.
Patrick leaves the business stronger
than he found it, well placed to meet
the challenges that lie ahead.
Throughout his time in the business,
Patrick also came to embody the
qualities and values that help to make
Unilever a special business: respect,
humanity, integrity. It is for these
reasons that he is liked and respected
in equal measure, both inside the
company and outside.
We all wish Patrick a long and
happy retirement.
As part of the time that the Boards spent with the business
during the year, we visited our laboratories in Bangalore and
our customer innovation centre in New Jersey. The Boards
reviewed the strategy at a two-day meeting in October.
One of the striking things to emerge from our strategy session
was the consistency of Unilever’s approach. While the strategy
has evolved to take account of the changing external environment,
its essential elements remain unchanged. The Group is still
committed to growing competitively and will do so by developing
its core assets of brands, technology, geographic spread and
marketing excellence. Just as importantly its principles remain
unchanged. The Group will deliver its results in a sustainable
fashion – seeking to manage its social and environmental
impacts in a manner which meets the needs of all its stakeholders.
We are proposing to change to a simpler and more transparent
dividend practice for the Unilever group from 2010 onwards.
These changes will result in more frequent dividend payments
through the payment of quarterly dividends to shareholders.
They will also better align dividend payouts with the cash flow
generation of the business. Further details are included in the
2009AGMNotices.
Looking forward, I remain confident. Unilever entered 2009
with a realistic assessment of the challenges which it would
have to face. Its plans were built on the assumption of a deep
and prolonged global economic downturn. We are determined
to emerge from this in good shape.
Finally, on behalf of the Boards, I would like to extend my
sincere thanks to all of Unilever’s 174 000 employees. They
have had to cope with, and manage, a huge amount of change.
They have done this in an exemplary and responsible fashion.
MichaelTreschow
Chairman
Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2008 5