Unilever, the London-based consumer goods giant, has revealed it is to demerge its sprawling ice cream business with a primary stock market listing in Amsterdam later this year.
The announcement, alongside its 2024 results, will be seen as a blow for the chancellor who had reportedly lobbied the company to make the case for London.
Rachel Reeves was said, by The Times earlier this month, to have met chief executive Hein Schumacher for talks as part of government efforts to revive the City’s fortunes following its post-Brexit difficulties in attracting new business in areas such as flotations.
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The Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds later told reporters there was still work to do in bolstering London’s competitiveness, admitting he would have liked to have seen London get the nod.
Unilever said on Thursday that while Amsterdam will have the primary ice cream listing, the demerged stock would also be traded in both London and New York.
The ice cream business includes five of the world’s top 10 brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Wall’s and Magnum, and generated sales last year of £6.9bn.
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Spin-off plans were first revealed almost a year ago though the company had not confirmed how it would be achieved.
Unilever argues that the division’s growth potential can be better served through a single focus as it moves to narrow the wider business.
In short, it wants to own fewer major brands and run them better.
The company announced last year that 7,500 jobs would go across its global operations to help bring down costs and bolster profitability.
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Its London-listed shares were down by more than 6% in the wake of the announcement.
That was despite a 6% hike to its dividend and a share buyback.
Much of the decline was explained, by analysts, on guidance that the first half of 2025 was likely to be tough for volume growth given the financial climate for consumers.
The earnings figures showed that while Unilever achieved both underlying sales and volume growth during 2024, net profits were down almost 11% due to spending on its turnaround plans and losses on some disposals.
The Treasury has yet to comment on Unilever’s listing decision.
