Annual Report and Accounts 2023

Disclaimers

• Legal notice related to material on this page

  The material on this Unilever Annual Report and Accounts Highlights webpage (the "Material") relates to the year ended 31 December 2023 and is provided for general information only. The Material does not (i) form part of the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2023 or Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023; or (ii) contain sufficient information to allow as full an understanding of the results and the state of affairs of Unilever as the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2023 or Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023.

  As such this Material should not be relied upon or used as the basis for making voting or investment decisions and should be read together with the full Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2023 or Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023 and other more complete or up-to-date sources of information. Information relating to Unilever's results for current and prior periods do not necessarily reflect future trends, nor do they provide indicators of results for like periods.

  This Material is not intended to be and shall not be deemed to be an invitation or inducement to invest in or otherwise deal in any securities of the Unilever Group or in any other investment, nor to provide or constitute any advice or recommendation in connection with any investment decision, nor to constitute an offer to provide services in any jurisdiction in which the Unilever Group is not permitted to do so under any applicable law or regulation.

• Cautionary statement

  This document may contain forward-looking statements, including ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of the Unilever Group (the ‘Group’). All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Words such as ‘will’, ‘aim’, ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘intends’, ‘looks’, ‘believes’, ‘vision’, ‘ambition’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘plan’, ‘potential’, ‘work towards’, ‘may’, ‘milestone’, ‘objectives’, ‘outlook’, ‘probably’, ‘project’, ‘risk’, ‘seek’, ‘continue’, ‘projected’, ‘estimate’, ‘achieve’ or the negative of these terms, and other similar expressions of future performance or results and their negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also include, but are not limited to, statements and information regarding the Group’s emissions reduction targets and other climate change related matters (including actions, potential impacts and risks associated therewith). Forward-looking statements can be made in writing but also may be made verbally by directors, officers and employees of the Group (including during management presentations) in connection with this document. These forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and other factors affecting the Group. They are not historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future performance or outcomes. All forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

  Because these forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, a number of which may be beyond the Group's control, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Among other risks and uncertainties, the material or principal factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this document are: Unilever’s global brands not meeting consumer preferences; Unilever’s ability to innovate and remain competitive; Unilever’s investment choices in its portfolio management; the effect of climate change on Unilever’s business; Unilever’s ability to find sustainable solutions to its plastic packaging; significant changes or deterioration in customer relationships; the recruitment and retention of talented employees; disruptions in Unilever's supply chain and distribution; increases or volatility in the cost of raw materials and commodities; the production of safe and high quality products; secure and reliable IT infrastructure; execution of acquisitions, divestitures and business transformation projects; economic, social and political risks and natural disasters; financial risks; failure to meet high and ethical standards; and managing regulatory, tax and legal matters. Also see "Our Principal Risks" on pages 70-78 for additional risks and further discussion.

  The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements.

  The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Group’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. New risks and uncertainties arise over time, and it is not possible for us to predict those events or how they may affect us. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

  This document also contains data on the Group’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Some of this data is based on estimates, assumptions and uncertainties. Scope 1 and 2 emissions data relates to emissions from the Group’s own activities and supplied heat, power and cooling and is generally easier for the Group to gather than Scope 3 emissions data. Scope 3 emissions relate to other organisations’ emissions and is therefore subject to a range of additional uncertainties, including that: data used to model lifecycle footprints is typically industry-standard data or estimates rather than relating to individual suppliers; and lifecycle models such as the Group’s cover many but not all products and markets.

  In addition, international standards and protocols relating to Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions calculations and categorisations also continue to evolve, as do accepted norms regarding terminology such as carbon neutral and net zero which may affect the emissions data the Group reports. As Scope 3 emissions data improves, shifting over time from generic modelled data to more specific data, the data reported in this document is likely to evolve.

  Throughout this report, we include non-GAAP financial measures to explain the performance of our business, including underlying sales growth, underlying volume growth, underlying price growth, not-underlying items, underlying operating profit, underlying operating margin, underlying earnings per share, underlying effective tax rate, constant underlying earnings per share, free cash flow, cash conversion, underlying return on assets, net debt and underlying return on invested capital. Such non-GAAP financial measures are defined in "Additional financial disclosures" and a reconciliation of these measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included within "Additional financial disclosures." See pages 59-64.

  Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023.

  This document is not prepared in accordance with US GAAP and should not therefore be relied upon by readers as such. The Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023 is separately filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and is available on our corporate website. www.unilever.com

  In addition, a printed copy of the Annual Report on Form 20-F 2023 is available, free of charge, upon request to Unilever, Investor Relations Department, 100 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DY, United Kingdom.

  This document comprises regulated information within the meaning of Sections 1:1 and 5:25c of the Act on Financial Supervision (‘Wet op het financieel toezicht (Wft)’) in the Netherlands.

  The brand names shown in this report are trademarks owned by or licensed to companies within the Group.

  References in this document to information on websites (and/or social media sites) are included as an aid to their location and such information is not incorporated in, and does not form part of, the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2023.