27/07/2023
This is Hein Schumacher Chief executive of Unilever.
On Monday the consumer goods giant said that across the business, pre-tax profit rose 21% to €3.9bn (£3.34bn) but the number of goods that it sold fell.
Over the first six months of this year, this is based almost entirely on the company raising its prices.
Supermarkets, such as Tesco, have been critical of suppliers lifting their prices amid high inflation.
Mr Schumacher said it had not passed on higher costs to its customers.
Who is he kidding?
He tried to spin it around a drought in Europe, rice shortages in India as well as geopolitical issues.
That’s fair enough but the numbers speak for themselves. Less sales more profit. This can only come from charging more surely.
Big corporates rule the business world and have so much control not just in consumer goods but other key areas as well. They can basically do what they like regarding pricing with consumers often picking up the tab.
Analyst Emma-Lou Montgomery, associate director at the stockbrokers Fidelity Investment commented “it is clear that higher prices are boosting Unilever's profits, particularly with sales volumes largely flat. "All in all, the cost of living is proving profitable for this global giant, with full-year underlying sales growth expected to beat forecasts," she added.
Enough said.
