Amsterdam, Feb 05: Anglo-Dutch food-to-detergents group Unilever is set to reveal new medium-term targets next week for the years beyond '04 when its ambitious “Path to Growth” programme will expire, a spokesman said. Unilever will announce the new programme, provisionally called “Value beyond ’04,” with its ’03 results on February 12.
Previously, it had not been expected to unveil the programme before March and some analysts feel the new strategy will be used to draw attention away from a disappointing fourth-quarter profit performance. “Is there anything sinister to read into this? That is, does this point to poor Q4 results which Unilever might want to bury?” Oriel Securities analyst Richard Workman asked in a note to investors. Sector analysts expect a focus in the programme on the creation of shareholder value by share buy-backs and an increased dividend policy.
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said it was “very encouraging” Unilever was focusing on value instead of growth.
“The use of the ‘growth’ in Unilever’s current programme has lead the market to be almost exclusively focused on Unilever’s quarterly topline performance, rather than other genuinely value-creating areas of performance such as earnings and free cash flow,” the bank said. Dresdner added that the achievements of the Path to Growth five-year programme are reflected in the share price. Bureau Report