Unilever Ghana to sustain growth, increase shareholder value - MD assures

Unilever Ghana says it is on track to ensure sustained growth of the business after the company returned to profitability last year.

From a loss position during the height of the outbreak of COVID-19, the company has managed to bounce back, a development the management of the company intends to improve to give its shareholders more value while servicing the people of Ghana with its high quality products.

Financials

The company posted a loss of GH¢160 million in 2019, GH¢50 million in 2020 until it managed to overturn the losses into profits.

It made its first profit of GH¢0.19 million in 2021 and GH¢15 million in 2022.

As of the first quarter of the year, the business has posted a profit of GH¢28 million, confirming its resolve to keep the growth trajectory in the coming quarters and into the year and beyond.

The company also recorded a turnover of GH¢242 million in the first quarter while its Net Cash Reserves also recovered from a negative position of GH¢59 million at the end of last year to GH¢16 million (positive) in the quarter under review.

Turning the corner

Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, George Owusu-Ansah, in an interaction with  a cross section of the media, said Unilever, like many other companies, suffered from the pandemic but due to strategies adopted by the company together with the enormous loyalty of consumers, it has been able to “turn the corner and this will be sustained into the future.”

The event was on the theme: Rediscovering our greatness, our brands, our heritage.

“As a company, we pledge to continue to depend on our prudent management practices and the full cooperation of staff and distributors to achieve the dream,” he added.

Mr Owusu-Ansah said the company, which products are widely acclaimed nationwide with most of them now a household name, will continue to deliver long-term superior value, serve the people everywhere while contributing to a fairer and more socially inclusive world.

Programmes

Mr Owusu-Ansah said the company would help equip 10,000 young people with essential skills by the end of the year; help about 500 small and medium-scale enterprises to grow their business by 2025; and spend 50,000 euros annually on diverse businesses by 2025.

Cash flow

The Director, Supply Chain, Mayank Kapoor, described the company’s financials as positive, having recovered from a weak state to an impressive position.

He said what the company was working hard at, was to improve its cash flow position since the nature of the business required it to be highly liquid.

Mr Kapoor said the company was working with the distributors on a constant basis to ensure that they contributed more to the effort to improve the company’s cash flow position on a sustained basis.