Unilever Ghana Limited says it will adopt robust measures to improve profitability. 2009 was a challenging period for the manufacturing giant as its profit dipped.

But the multinational says it is committed to creating sustainable value for shareholders.

According to Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of the Board of the company, Unilever has the right strategies, brands and partners to deliver and would adopt measures to create robust shareholder value.

Already, the company’s half year financial results indicate that the recovery process has begun.

In 2009, revenue growth was 1.4 percent, which was partly due to a reduction in exports.

Operating profit fell by 77 percent in 2008 and the cost of doing business rose sharply.

This was triggered by environmental factors which also depressed consumer purchasing and spending power, compelling some loyal customers to reduce trade and patronize cheaper and lower quality products, Mr. Yamson emphasized.

Charles Alexander Cofie, Managing Director of the company added, “We are not at all excited about the 2009 performance, which was driven largely by a difficult business environment.”

In spite of the challenges, Mr. Yamson said his outfit delivered growth in some key brands mainly in the home, personal care and food categories, stressing that it maintained the market leadership in five out of the eight categories.

Mr. Cofie said his outfit was committed to creating sustainable value for shareholders and in doing so, it would continue to improve profitability.

In 2009, the company recorded a turnover of GH˘168 million, representing 1.4 percent growth, while the underlying business remained flat compared with the previous year.

The weaker profit mix was compounded by significant cost increases which was due to currency impact, exchange losses and one-off costs to the tune of GH˘29 million.

However, for the first half of this year, Unilever achieved an operating profit of GH˘15.9 million compared with GH˘0.6 million in 2009.

The strong margin and profit were driven by improved product mix, relative stable exchange rate regime and the savings initiatives that the company adopted.

Similarly, cash generated from operations improved to GH˘10.3 million in 2010 from GH˘3.5 million in 2009.

By: Charles Nixon Yeboah

Source: Daily Guide Business