Unilever's Revenue Problem That Forced Ex-CEO To Resign, Worsens Under New CEO, Carl Cruz

After Unilever Nigeria's former Chief Executive Officer, Yaw Nsarkoh, was forced to resign following declining revenue, with Carl Raymond Cruz appointed as new CEO, it seems the manufacturer of Close-Up and Rexona, has still not been able to fix its revenue leak.

The change of management last year hasn't brought succour to Unilever which suffered a significant drop in its revenue for the second quarter of 2020 when compared to the corresponding period of 2019. The revenue fell by 40% within the three months of April to June 2020, reflecting the revenue problem of Unilever.

Last year, between April and June 2019, Unilever recorded N23.4 billion, but the same period this year saw the company recording far below 2019 Q2 revenue, after posting N14 billion for 2020 Q2 - making it the worse since 2016. A further look disclosed that in the First Half of 2019, Unilever recorded N42.6 billion, but the company could only generate N27.3 billion between the first six months of 2020.

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What Affected Unilever's Revenue This Year

One of the major setback for Unilever's second quarter revenue was its food product segments which generated N12 billion in the corresponding period of 2019, only to gross N7.8 billion; reflecting a significant drop. Also, Home & Personal Care segment's revenue also dipped.

The Home & Personal Care division revenue couldn't surpass the N12 billion of the corresponding period of 2019, ending 2020 second quarter at N6.1 billion. Note that Unilever is the manufacturer of Pepsodent toothpaste, LUX beauty soap, Lifebuoy soap, Rexona, Vaseline lotion and Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and OMO Multi-Active Detergent.

Also on the company's product list are Sunlight washing powder, Sunlight washing bar soap and Sunlight Dishwashing liquid, Pears Baby Product ranges among others. Its Food products include Lipton Yellow Label Tea, Knorr bouillon cubes in the Foods Unit, Royco bouillon cubes, etc. The company had, in 2018, sold off its Spreads business which includes the household name brand Blueband Magarine.

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Consequences Of Poor Result

Nsarkoh has been a key leader for Unilever Nigeria for years, heading various positions which included several regional headquarters of Unilever, especially in Africa. Part of his vital roles included being a Strategic Assistant to Unilever’s President for Asia, Africa, Central, and Eastern Europe.

He held the CEO position for a long period before Unilever Nigeria's result began to nosedive last year, and he became a victim of the poor result. At first, he was placed on leave of absence, with Adesola Sobande-Peters taking over as an interim Managing Director of the company.

The Ghanaian was, however, later forced to resign on November 30, 2019. Carl Raymond Cruz was later appointed to fill the position as a full-time. Now, Unilever Nigeria's quarterly revenue has hit its lowest in recent years, its left to see how the board of Directors will react to the declining revenue - with what happened last year, it's unsure if heads won't roll in response to the poor result for this year, putting more tension on Carl Cruz.