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.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More