By Martinne Geller
LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Unilever could sell some small
beauty and personal care brands as it looks to pivot its
portfolio toward faster-growth areas, its chief financial
officer said on Thursday.
The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group has completed about 36
acquisitions and a dozen disposals since 2015, CFO Graeme
Pitkethly told analysts, with many of the disposals on the food
side of the business.
Looking forward, however, the balance could shift towards
disposals, including in its beauty and personal care business,
Pitkethly said after the company reported a stronger than
expected return to sales growth in the third quarter.
"We've got a number of smaller brands there that we may look
to divest, just to tidy up the portfolio and allow us to be more
focused," he said.
The process Unilever is undergoing to unify its dual-headed
corporate structure, which should complete next month, has led
to speculation that big acquisitions could be on the agenda. The
company has said unification would give it more flexibility,
including with the use of equity in deals.
"We don't have any pending major acquisitions," Chief
Executive Alan Jope said on Thursday.
Yet Unilever, which bought GlaxoSmithKline's
Horlicks nutrition business for $3.8 billion this year, remains
interested in acquisitions, with a focus on bigger deals.
"We expect to have a slower pace of acquisitions ... we'd
like to do slightly larger acquisitions and maybe fewer small
acquisitions, but we definitely expect to pivot toward more
disposal activity as a way of reshaping the portfolio,"
Pitkethly said.
Unilever sold its spreads business in 2018 and is currently
working to move its tea business into a separate entity,
including the popular PG Tips brand.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller
Editing by David Goodman)