Consumer products giant Unilever, whose brands include Ben & Jerry's ice creams, Lipton tea and Dove soaps, said Thursday that second-quarter sales were only slightly lower than the same period a year ago — beating expectations of a drop of around 4% — despite the lockdown measures triggered by the global fight against the coronavirus.
CEO Alan Jope said the Anglo-Dutch company had "unlocked new levels of agility in responding to unprecedented fluctuations in demand."
The company's shares jumped more than 8% on the news.
Unilever's results provide a snapshot of how consumer behavior has been altered by the global pandemic – shoppers bought more food and drink to consume at home rather than visiting restaurants and cleaned their homes and hands more while spending less on personal grooming.
"Lockdowns in our markets and reduced personal care occasions amidst restricted living, led to lower demand for skin care, deodorants and hair care, which each saw volume and price decline," the company said.
E-commerce grew 49% in the first half of the year as lockdowns and fear of the virus forced people to stay home and shop online.
Second quarter underlying sales growth edged down 0.3% while turnover fell 3.1% compared to the second quarter in 2019 to 13.3 billion euros ($15.4 billion).
The company noted that sales of food, ice cream and tea rose as people spent more time at home. The flip side was that "consumers had fewer personal care occasions from going to work or socializing, and we saw a decline in our personal care business, except for hygiene products."
The importance of hygiene in fighting the coronavirus led to increased demand for hand and home sanitizing products.
"Consumers eating and cleaning more at home, and focusing more on hand hygiene, led to underlying sales growth in North America of 9.5% in the second quarter, despite a negative impact of 3.7% from food solutions and Prestige channel closures," the company said.
Following a review launched in January, Unilever said it will retain its tea businesses in India and Indonesia and separate the company's remaining tea operations into a new business. The separation is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More