UNILEVER OPERATES IN THE FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG) INDUSTRY, ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPETITIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE WORLD.

The top 25 global FMCG players generate sales of over € 500 billion in markets characterised by their highly dynamic nature. Rapid change is now a constant, caused by fragmentation throughout the value chain, requiring fast, innovative and profitable responses in areas such as supply chain, customer development, marketing and brand innovation.

In response we have taken a number of strategic actions including the sale of our Spreads business, the integration of our Foods and Refreshment categories, the announcement or completion of 12 acquisitions in faster growing segments and channels, and the acceleration of our Connected 4 Growth (C4G) change programme. Launched in 2016 to create a faster, simpler organisation, we are realising C4G’s benefits through digitally connected end-to-end marketing, R&D and supply chain, and a more agile organisation leveraging our global scale and local expertise.

FASTER PACE OF CHANGE

There is no doubt that the business environment is changing at a faster pace than ever. These changes bring challenges but also significant opportunity. We see changes in a number of areas, notably in consumer preferences, route-to-market channels, media and brand communication and the competitive landscape.

Consumers are taking radically different paths when purchasing brands, often combining both offline and online channels where influencers are a growing force. Younger consumers are prioritising meaning over materialism, demanding brands with a point of view and more authenticity, transparency and sustainability. More people moving into the global workforce, especially in emerging markets, is resulting in long-term shifts in demand for products with greater convenience and time-saving attributes, notably in Foods and Home Care, but without sacrificing quality or sustainability benefits. The trend of growing middle classes continues, albeit challenged by incomes rising only slowly in some emerging markets and inequality increasing globally.

Channels to reach consumers are also fragmenting, with less reliance on ‘big box’ retailers as e-commerce continues to grow, driven in part by direct-to-consumer models. The global FMCG e-commerce channel continues to grow by 30% a year according to the latest industry reports. Specialist channels, such as drug stores, continue to grow in significance as do discount and convenience stores.

The proliferation of diverse digital and social media channels has led to significant media fragmentation. Digital advertising is playing an increasingly important role in brand advertising – now around 40% of the total advertising market. However, tackling viewability standards and fraud in digital advertising through verification of views – and demonstrating the value of digital advertising spend – are ongoing challenges for the industry.

Responses to change are predicated on the need for efficiency and margin improvement as competition intensifies. Some global players are adopting models prioritising cost-cutting over long-term investment.

Local players present a growing challenge. They react swiftly with innovations meeting local trends, one reason why responses, such as Unilever’s C4G programme, are critical in marrying the benefits of global scale, in areas such as marketing and R&D, with entrepreneurial country teams empowered to lead launches that meet local trends.

A MIXED ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

This pace of change comes as market conditions across many of our markets remain challenging. There are, however, grounds for optimism as local currencies are stabilising and real wages are making a recovery. We are starting to see signs of improvement in some of the large emerging markets such as India and China but others, notably Brazil, are suffering economic problems with consumers spending less. This requires further rapid, local responses from brands.

In Europe, the industry is seeing high promotion levels keeping prices down. Volumes are slowly picking up in certain markets. Consumers, while remaining cost conscious, are also seeking occasions to buy more premium and prestige products in return for economising on some of their routine household shopping. In North America, although GDP performance is positive, this has not translated into significant growth in our markets.

LONGER-TERM MACRO FORCES

Our markets are also shaped by systemic macro forces which impact at a different pace. We periodically review these trends to ensure our strategy and plans are fit for the future. Based on our latest macro forces analysis, we believe there are four distinct but overlapping trends that will shape the world over the next ten years: the multipolar world, the environment under stress, digital and technology revolution and people living differently (see pages 10 to 18 for our response).

Slow global growth is accentuating the financial and political polarisation within countries. Nationalist and protectionist tendencies are rising, threatening the progress of globalisation and free trade in recent decades.

Strains on the natural environment are intensifying with the impacts of climate change and water scarcity increasingly visible. Momentum is gathering globally to tackle climate change following the Paris Agreement, which came into force in 2016, aiming to limit temperature rise this century to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Concerns about the planet and society are matched by concerns about our own health. Obesity kills more people than hunger, while many populations struggle to find sufficient nourishment in their diets, presenting opportunities to meet these growing consumer needs.

Companies continue with the rapid development of new technologies. These include artificial intelligence, robotics, voice technology and virtual reality to engage with consumers in new ways. Data, and the Internet of Things, are disrupting traditional business models using technologies such as blockchain and increasingly sophisticated smart devices. Digitisation also comes with risk, at an individual, government and company level, over data privacy and security as well as brand safety.

Consumers are now living in communities that are becoming more diverse with fragmented identities. Younger generations, especially Millennials and Generation Z, are having a powerful influence on cultural norms such as diversity and gender. Older generations will exert a strong economic influence with the number of people aged 80 and over expected to triple by 2050. Migration is having a profound effect on national identity. Today, one in 30 people are international migrants living abroad, a 40% rise since 2000. People are encouraged to move, in part, by the rise of global megacities of ten million-plus inhabitants. These will rise from 31 to 41 by 2030. Such urbanisation is expected to create an additional 500 million one-person households between 2016 and 2030.

UNILEVER HAS A PROVEN BUSINESS MODEL THAT SUPPORTS LONG-TERM, COMPOUNDING GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE VALUE CREATION.

Our business activities span a complex, global value chain. Starting with consumer insights, we track changing consumer sentiment through our 25 People Data Centres around the world. Through close collaboration between marketing and R&D, we use our insights to inform product development, leveraging our € 900 million annual R&D spend.

We work with thousands of suppliers and spend around € 34 billion on goods and services, including approximately € 13 billion on ingredients and raw materials for our products. Our global manufacturing operations across more than 300 factories in 69 countries turn these materials into products.

Our products are then distributed via a network of more than 400 globally coordinated warehouses to 25 million retail stores, from large supermarkets, hypermarkets, wholesalers and cash and carry, to small convenience stores, as well as other fast-growing channels such as e-commerce, out-of-home and direct-to-consumer. We work in close partnership with customers to ensure our brands are always available and properly displayed.

We are the second largest advertiser in the world, based on media spend. Alongside more conventional advertising, we create an increasing amount of tailored content ourselves to market our brands, using digital channels that are better targeted, more personalised and provide more accurate consumer insights. And in doing so, our value chain cycle repeats itself.

Underlying our value chain is a set of defining strengths which set us apart from our competitors: our portfolio of global brands and local jewels; a presence in more than 190 countries with 58% of our turnover in emerging markets; deep distribution capability through

ever more complex channels and a talent pool of local management – 70% of our leaders are local.

Our strategy (see page 10) and our category strategies (see pages 11 and 12) harness these strengths to deliver competitive top and bottom line growth, and capital efficiency which in turn drives underlying earnings per share, free cash flow and return on invested capital – and ultimately attractive returns for shareholders. To respond further to the increasing pace of change and the need to go further and faster in value creation, we are accelerating our C4G programme of organisational change to create a faster, simpler organisation. For more on C4G see page 10.

Combined with C4G, in April 2017, we set out financial targets to further accelerate shareholder value. These include underlying sales growth ahead of our markets, which in current market conditions we expect to translate into underlying sales growth of 3-5% each year up to 2020, projected savings of € 6 billion by 2019 and an expansion of underlying operating margin from 16.4% to 20% by 2020. Return on Invested Capital is expected to be sustained in the high teens and dividends will continue to rise, reflecting increased confidence in the outlook for profit growth and cash generation.

Sustainable value creation also means investing for the long term, which is why the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) is at the heart of our business model and Vision to grow our business, whilst decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth and increasing our positive social impact, in turn contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (see page 15).

Our strategy and business model continue to deliver growth that is consistent, competitive, profitable and responsible. Between 2009 and 2017 it has delivered underlying sales growth of 4.3% a year while operating margin expanded by 390 basis points to 16.5%. In 2017 free cash flow increased to over € 5 billion while return on invested capital was 19.2%. Longer term, Unilever has grown dividends by an average of 8% per year over the last 37 years, with no reductions.

GROWING THE CORE, EVOLVING THE PORTFOLIO AND DEVELOPING CHANNELS ARE AT THE HEART OF OUR STRATEGY TO DELIVER LONG-TERM, COMPOUNDING GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE VALUE CREATION.

Our strategy helps us deliver top and bottom line growth in a fast-changing world. It is underpinned by Connected 4 Growth (C4G), a significant organisational change programme which aims to create a faster, simpler organisation while creating a culture of empowerment, collaboration and experimentation. We expect the benefits of C4G to be realised progressively during 2018 and 2019.

OUR CONSUMERS

Meeting the needs of consumers is at the heart of our value creation model and strategy. We reach them through our four categories.

PERSONAL CARE

OUR PERSONAL CARE CATEGORY GENERATED TURNOVER OF € 20.7 BILLION, ACCOUNTING FOR 39% OF UNILEVER’S TURNOVER AND 46% OF OPERATING PROFIT.

The category is our largest and includes five brands with turnover of € 1 billion or above, Axe, Dove, Lux, Rexona and Sunsilk and other household names such as TRESemmé, Signal, Lifebuoy and Vaseline. Personal Care has leading global positions in hair, skin cleansing and deodorants, and strong local positions in skin care and oral care. Its prestige range leads in premiumising our brand portfolio with turnover of € 425 million from brands such as Dermalogica.

Personal Care’s strategy is to deliver competitive growth in its core, while evolving the overall portfolio in response to market trends. It has four markets generating turnover of more than € 1 billion: US, India, Brazil and Indonesia, highlighting its emerging market strengths which generated € 12.5 billion of turnover. Underlying sales growth in the category during 2017 was 2.9%, a slowdown from 2016, while operating margin rose 140 basis points to 19.8%.

Growing the core and evolving areas such as naturals, prestige and baby was a key focus of innovation and investment in 2017. The Simple sensitive skin care range was rolled out to new markets, while several brands such as Dove and Sunsilk launched natural extensions. In India, Lever Ayush, a brand formulated using ayurvedic ingredients was launched and offers a range of skin, hair and oral care products. Hijab Fresh, a hand and body lotion specifically developed for Muslim consumers, was launched in Indonesia. Other launches included KJU Perfumed by Lux in China, capitalising on the appeal of Korean beauty, and Signal’s White Now Correction range in Europe. North America launched two brands: the millennial-focused hair care and skin cleansing brand, Love Beauty & Planet and ApotheCARE Essentials, a range of apothecary-inspired haircare products.

The business faced pressure in two of its largest markets, Brazil and Indonesia, due to difficult economic conditions which affected volumes. North America saw growth increase in hair care and skin cleansing while in Europe, consumers remain cost conscious and the retail environment challenging.

Several acquisitions were completed in line with the category’s strategy. Carver Korea was bought to strengthen our footprint in skin care in China, Japan and South Korea. Hourglass, a luxury colour cosmetics brand, Schmidt’s Naturals deodorant brand and Sundial Brands, a US hair care and skin care company serving multicultural and millennial consumers were acquired in 2017. An agreement was also announced in 2017 to acquire the home care and personal care business of Quala S.A., adding hair and male grooming brands in north Latin America.

The category has several Sustainable Living brands such as Axe, Dove, Rexona, Lifebuoy and Smile (Signal and Pepsodent) which are central to the ambitions of the USLP. Dove, Lifebuoy and Signal have programmes to achieve Unilever’s goal of improving health and well-being for more than one billion people by 2020. Dove launched the Real Beauty Pledge in 2017 which promises that Dove will: always feature real women, never models, in campaigns; will portray women as they are in real life and will help girls build body confidence and self-esteem to realise their potential. Axe’s positioning, which embraces the individuality of real, modern men, supported Unilever’s work on Unstereotype.

The media landscape continues to fragment, requiring efficiencies in producing marketing content and more efficient use of existing assets. This approach helped Personal Care meet savings targets from zero-based budgeting, expanding margins. Low volume growth and short-term volatility are risks but Personal Care is well-positioned to

respond to local competition, and remains a highly attractive growth and margin opportunity in an ever more connected world where its emerging market footprint is a major asset.

HOME CARE

OUR HOME CARE CATEGORY GENERATED TURNOVER OF € 10.6 BILLION, ACCOUNTING FOR 20% OF UNILEVER’S TURNOVER AND 13% OF OPERATING PROFIT.

Home Care includes two global brands with turnover of € 1 billion or more, namely Dirt is Good (Omo and Persil) and Surf. Other leading brands include Comfort, Domestos, Sunlight, Cif, Pureit, the water purification brand and Blueair, the air purification business.

Home Care’s strategic role is to grow profitability and it made good progress during 2017, generating underlying sales growth of 4.4% and increasing operating margin by 130 basis points to 10.8%. Its emerging markets footprint, accounting for 80% of turnover, and its leading brands delivered leadership positions in seven of its top ten markets. This resilience came against a slowdown in several key markets, combined with commodity inflation and currency fluctuations. However, premiumisation, portfolio evolution and expansion in new geographies all contributed to strong growth in South Asia, Africa and the region of North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

In more challenging European, South East Asian and some Latin American markets, investment in core brands resulted in growth for Radiant in Brazil, Comfort in China and Sunlight in Indonesia. This was complemented by successful launches of Surf laundry detergents and Sunlight Dishwashing tablets in Central & Eastern Europe, combined with the continued success of Domestos toilet blocks in Europe and liquid laundry detergents in South East Asia. Future growth markets have been strengthened by the announcement to purchase the home care and personal care business of Quala S.A. in 2017 which will add brands in north Latin America, and Unilever’s joint venture to form EAC Unilever Myanmar Company Limited.

Consistent with Unilever’s Connected 4 Growth programme, Home Care met changing consumer trends with local innovations launched at speed. The Italian Cif team identified the potential for nozzles to deliver either a spray or a foam and launched within seven months. Comfort Sakura, a millennial-inspired cherry blossom fragrance in Japan and China, was launched in five months.

Global innovations also accelerated. Capitalising on the increased penetration of dishwash machines, Sun dishwasher tablets with improved performance, were launched within 12 months. The category continued its innovation in laundry by launching Persil Powergems, a revolutionary format with a new concentrated formula which both lowers our greenhouse gas footprint and delivers high performance.

Home Care’s innovations responded quickly to consumers’ desires for hygiene, natural ingredients and products that care for sensitive skin. Seventh Generation, a US acquisition in 2016 and a pioneer of plant-based products, grew by double digits. Sensitive, a growing segment addressing skin sensitivity, saw the launch of Dirt is Good Sensitive (Persil, Omo) in 24 countries while Neutral, another 2016 acquisition, is now in 11 countries.

The category continued to help consumers improve their health and livelihoods notably through its Sustainable Living brands such as Cif, Dirt is Good, Domestos, Radiant and Surf. Domestos, with double digit growth in 2017, helped more than ten million people gain improved access to a toilet while the Domex brand in India launched a low-cost toilet cleaner for low income groups. SmartFoam, a new rinse-efficient, water-saving technology already available in South Africa under the Sunlight brand, was incorporated into the Rin (Radiant) detergent bar in India while Rin also grew its Career Ready Academy, a programme to help young people and women shine in their chosen career through language, presentation and entrepreneurial training.

Home Care’s priority in the year ahead is to remain agile and continue to reinvest savings from its 5S programme (see page 10), ensuring continued resilience to persistent competitive pressures and economic headwinds.

FOODS

OUR FOODS CATEGORY GENERATED TURNOVER OF € 12.5 BILLION, ACCOUNTING FOR 23% OF UNILEVER’S TURNOVER AND 26% OF OPERATING PROFIT.

Our two global Foods brands with turnover of € 1 billion or above - Knorr and Hellmann’s – account for almost two thirds of the category turnover (excluding Spreads). The rest of the turnover is generated by smaller brands including local jewels such as Bango in Indonesia, Maizena in Latin America, Kissan in India, and Robertsons in South Africa. In December 2017, we signed an agreement to dispose of our global Spreads business. Completion is expected mid-2018. More details on page 18.

Foods enjoyed a good year with continued consistent and profitable growth with underlying sales up 1.0% and operating margin increasing 80 basis points to 18.2%. Strong growth was delivered in emerging markets, which account for 46% of turnover with a compound annual growth rate of about 7% based on the last three years. The broad-based growth was particularly driven by Indonesia, Philippines, China, Mexico, Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Turkey. The performance was driven by core businesses such as cooking products, meal makers, and mayonnaise while benefiting from innovation and renovations and a focus on accessibility through our channels. Brazil had a challenging year because of recession, although there were signs of improving trends in the second half led by Hellmann’s portfolio relaunch and Knorr’s ‘Know Me Better’ campaign launch promoting its all-natural seasonings.

In developed markets conditions were more challenging, however progress was made on portfolio modernisation, where consumer demand continues to focus on greater naturalness and authenticity. Unilever has responded with new Knorr Sides launches in the US and natural, organic, vegetarian and ‘free from’ Knorr offerings in Europe. Hellmann’s launched its purpose-led ‘On the Side of Food’ campaign along with a new visual identity. This global brand activity was supported by local jewels such as Unox, Conimex and Pot Noodle entering on-trend segments including plant based, snacking and chilled.

Digital activation continues to be a strategic focus for Foods, with innovations and advertising campaigns based on a digital and mobile-first approach. Both Hellmann’s ‘On the Side of Food’ and Knorr’s ‘Know Me Better’ campaigns were designed to engage consumers in conversations on sustainable nutrition. Unilever Food Solutions, which directly supplies restaurant operators and distributors, had another year of impressive growth. It generated turnover of € 2.7 billion and is well placed to capitalise on rising out-of-home food consumption. It delivered broad based growth, including double digit underlying sales growth in China, its biggest market.

Our Sustainable Nutrition strategy, launched in 2016, is central to our strategic ambition to be recognised as a progressive foods company. It was spearheaded by Hellmann’s and Knorr, which are both Sustainable Living brands. Knorr continued to deliver sustainable sourcing and fortification programmes and maintained its commitment to raising animal welfare standards, while Hellmann’s made significant progress in shifting to sustainably sourced oils and cage-free eggs, with the latter delivered into the US three years ahead of the original commitment. Hellmann’s ketchup introduced a variant sweetened with honey and another made with red and green tomatoes, reducing food waste. Additionally, 39% of our Foods and Refreshment portfolio, based on sales volume, is compliant with Unilever’s highest nutritional standards, that are aligned with World Health Organization criteria. Our recently acquired businesses – Sir Kensington’s in the US and Mãe Terra in Brazil – are well aligned to our Sustainable Nutrition strategy.

Unilever’s Connected 4 Growth initiative means Foods is better placed to take advantage of local insights at increased speed. A third of Foods’ regional and local innovations reached the market in less than seven months. At the same time, the category’s strong global presence also provides critical scale, for example Hellmann’s relaunch was undertaken in more than 25 markets.

REFRESHMENT

OUR REFRESHMENT CATEGORY GENERATED TURNOVER OF € 9.9 BILLION, ACCOUNTING FOR 18% OF UNILEVER’S TURNOVER AND 15% OF OPERATING PROFIT.

Refreshment includes three brands with turnover of € 1 billion or above, Heartbrand (eg Wall’s), Magnum and Lipton, alongside household names including Brooke Bond and Ben & Jerry’s. Its premium positioned brands includes T2, Pure Leaf and Taj Mahal in tea, and Grom and Talenti in ice cream. Refreshment’s strategic role is to deliver growth and cash while generating margin improvement. Performance was strong, with the highest growth in half a decade, driven by an acceleration of growth in tea and ice cream.

The category’s underlying sales growth increased 4.9% reflecting strengthened emerging market performance resulting from continued focus on core brands, portfolio evolution and addressing key consumer trends. These include premiumisation, health and wellness, and out-of-home consumption. Profitability grew with operating margins increasing 380 basis points to 13.5%. Margins were boosted by zero-based budgeting, C4G and future finance savings. Ice cream benefited from improved channel mix and its cash contribution has more than doubled over four years. Nearly all our markets had growth with China, India and Turkey delivering double-digit performances, while Europe enjoyed a fourth year of growth in ice cream. North America remained challenging in a competitive context, but strengthened as the year progressed.

In Ice Cream, performance was fuelled by premium and on-trend innovation. Magnum delivered double-digit growth, driven by Magnum Doubles and the launch into premium pints, sitting alongside our premium brands such as Talenti and Grom Gelato. Ben & Jerry’s expanded ‘on-the-go’ with the launch of the Pint Slices format in the US, while the ‘Wich range continued growth in Europe. In the ‘free-from’ segment, Unilever continued its growth of the Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy range and expanded Swedish Glace into new markets.

Premiumisation of tea saw the acquisition of Pukka Herbs, the fastest growing organic tea brand, and Tazo in North America, responding to demand for speciality teas. These join Refreshment’s premium Tea portfolio of Sir Thomas Lipton, T2, which continues its roll out, and the Pure Leaf brand. Innovation in health and wellness included the launch of a range of Lipton benefit-led teas, entering new premium segments.

Refreshment continued to build a stronger and more agile business. More than half of Refreshment innovation projects were regionally led. Breyers Delights, our response to the low calorie, high protein trend in North America reached the market in under six months. Turnover momentum came through developing channels. On-the-go continues strongly in markets with .com delivery service and platforms providing new access to consumers. Premium tea brands gave access to premium restaurants, hotels and department stores as well as partnerships with retailers.

The category has several Sustainable Living brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Brooke Bond and Lipton. Markets featuring Brooke Bond’s purpose-led advertising, centred on finding common ground over tea, grew almost three times faster than others. Our ‘I am Wall’s’ programme continued to employ micro entrepreneurs across 25 countries while our purchase of climate-friendly ice cream freezer cabinets continued, increasing to around 2.6 million. Responsible nutrition was another strategic driver for Refreshment with 90% of our packaged ice cream by volume containing 250 calories or fewer per portion (calculated based on 87% of global ice cream sales volume).

SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT

THE UNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVING PLAN IS OUR BLUEPRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH.

We want our growth to reward shareholders but we want society to benefit too. Our 161,000 employees received € 5.4 billion in pay in 2017, and our retailers and distributors who sell our products in more than 190 countries generated income and employment. Our suppliers also benefited from the € 34 billion we spent on goods and services in 2017. The taxes we pay are another important contribution. Total taxes borne by Unilever in 2017 were € 3.9 billion, of which € 2.2 billion was corporation tax. Unilever fully complies with the tax laws in the countries where we operate. Where tax law is unclear, or has not kept pace with modern business practice, we interpret our obligations in a responsible way, guided by our Tax Principles. Our website has further details.

Our vision of inclusive growth which delivers value for multiple stakeholders, is encapsulated in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP). The USLP represents a simple idea – that business should put itself at the service of society. By doing so it will generate consistent and profitable growth. The USLP has three big goals: improving the health and well-being of more than one billion people by 2020; halving our environmental footprint by 2030; and enhancing livelihoods for millions by 2020. These goals, detailed below, are supported by a transformational change agenda. This combines our own actions and our partnership approach to external advocacy, with public policy goals, to create change on a systemic scale which contributes to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (see page 15 for more). Our Sustainable Living Report is available on our website and contains extensive disclosure on our activities and actions across all USLP commitments.

THE BUSINESS CASE

The USLP drives value for Unilever, generating more growth, lower costs, less risk and more trust in the business. Our Sustainable Living brands, which combine a powerful purpose with products contributing to the USLP, are a key differentiator in this regard. In 2016, 18 of our top 40 brands were Sustainable Living brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Dove and Signal. Our Sustainable Living brands grew 50% faster than our other brands, and accounted for 60% of total growth.

Business benefits are also delivered through product innovation which responds to environmental issues such as water scarcity and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time as helping consumers. For example, Sunlight’s breakthrough SmartFoam technology, delivering superior performance, less suds and half the amount of water needed, continues to grow in South Africa and expanded to more formats in India. It provides a critical benefit for water-stressed areas and contributes to our USLP target of halving the water associated with consumer use of our products by 2020.

The USLP delivers significant benefits to our business. For example, by using less energy we have avoided energy costs in our factories of over € 490 million since our baseline year of 2008; and by using fewer materials and producing less waste we have avoided costs of over € 260 million over the same period.

The USLP responds directly to a number of macro forces (see page 8) that are both risks and opportunities in our markets – such as a lack of access to water and sanitation, strains on the food system and the climate and the environment, and rising inequality. Sustainability is one of our principal risks. Another one of our principal risks is climate change (see pages 32 and 33) and mitigating its physical impacts is critical because we depend on raw materials sourced from countries that are particularly vulnerable to rising seas and temperatures and changing weather patterns. We have performed high-level assessments on our business of 2°C and 4°C global warming scenarios which show that without action, both scenarios represent financial risks by 2030, mainly arising from higher costs. That said, in managing these financial risks our business model would not require material change. See pages 32 to 33.

Trust is essential for any business, but it must be earned. The USLP is a key driver of trust among our employees and potential recruits. We

are number one FMCG graduate employer of choice in 44 countries where we recruit. We have been ranked first in the annual Globescan survey of sustainability leaders for seven years.

IMPROVING HEALTH & WELL-BEING

Our activities impact the health and well-being of millions of people – through brand-led health and hygiene, and nutrition interventions. Significant progress has been made against our first USLP goal of helping more than one billion people improve their health and well-being by 2020. By the end of 2017, we had reached 601 million people, making a significant contribution to the Sustainable Development Goal on Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6).

Lifebuoy leads with one of the world’s largest handwashing behaviour change programmes. Since 2010, its programme has reached 426 million people through schools, health clinics and community outreach. Lifebuoy currently only counts those people reached through on-ground programmes. However, we have long believed the totality of our marketing efforts contribute to changing handwashing behaviour, including mass scale TV advertising. To test this, we ran a study in our biggest market, India, to assess the effectiveness of specific Lifebuoy TV adverts with the same methodology used to evaluate our on-ground programmes. The study showed a significant increase in frequency of handwashing with soap after watching the adverts. The result shows mass media can impact health behaviours at scale, giving Lifebuoy the opportunity to reach millions more people and potentially bringing us closer to our 2020 target of reaching 1 billion people. As a next step, we are progressing peer review publication and aim to include TV reach in our Health & Well-being performance figures for 2018 alongside our on-ground programme reach.

Our Vaseline brand is helping to heal the skin of people affected by poverty or emergencies. The Vaseline Healing Project, in partnership with Direct Relief, is providing dermatological care, skin health training, Vaseline Jelly and other medical supplies. Its ambition is to help heal the skin of five million people by 2020 and has reached over two and a half million people since 2015. Marketing activities featuring the Vaseline Healing Project have had measurable, positive impacts on sales growth and brand equity. In 2017 the programme sent dermatologists to Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and conducted healing missions in India, the US, Philippines, Thailand and Mexico.

The second pillar of our Health & Well-being goal is our commitment on nutrition: to double the proportion of our portfolio that meets the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines. This will help hundreds of millions of people to achieve a healthier diet, a key part of the Global Goal on Zero Hunger (SDG2). So far 39% of our products have reached this standard and are on track to meet our 2020 commitment. In support of our Code Policy on Responsible Marketing, in 2017 94% of our Foods and Refreshment portfolio had full nutrition labelling on pack that aligned with Unilever’s product labelling criteria (based on 97% of global sales from 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017).

REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Our activities impact the environment, principally through the use of water, energy and land as well as the production of waste and greenhouse gas emissions, largely as a result of consumer use.

In 2016 we stopped buying GreenPalm certificates for palm oil which resulted in a temporary dip in our overall sustainable sourcing performance compared to 2015. By the end of 2017, the total volume of our agricultural raw materials that were sustainably sourced increased to 56%. We are one of the major buyers of palm oil in the world and it is one of the most significant raw materials we source by volume. Our goal to source 100% of our palm oil sustainably from physical, certified sources by 2019 is on track with 56% of our palm oil volumes already physically certified in 2017. As part of the agreement to dispose of our global Spreads business to KKR, they will

continue to work towards the goal of sourcing 100% sustainable palm oil by 2019.

We believe that growth cannot come at the expense of the planet. That is why our goal by 2030 is to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of our products as we grow our business. This is a challenging target requiring action across our value chain on waste, water and greenhouse gas emissions. In doing so we will contribute to a number of the Sustainable Development Goals, principally Climate Action (SDG13) and Responsible Consumption & Production (SDG12).

Our manufacturing operations have seen a reduction in total waste disposed to landfill, or incineration without energy recovery, of around 98% per tonne of production since 2008. We maintained zero non-hazardous waste to landfill across our global factory network during 2017. We are more than half way towards meeting our 2020 commitment to reduce waste associated with the disposal of our products. This has reduced by about 29% since 2010 due to increases in consumer recycling and changes in our portfolio.

In 2017, we made a further commitment on waste, ensuring that all our plastic packaging will be fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Our investment in innovative technologies such as CreaSolv is key. This technology makes it possible to recycle small, multi-layered sachets in which many of our products are sold, especially in emerging markets. If our initial pilot proves commercially viable, we will open source the technology.

We have made significant reductions in the water used in manufacturing – 39% per tonne of production since 2008. Our biggest water impact occurs when consumers shower, bathe and clean clothes with our products. Our target is to reduce by half the amount of water per consumer use by 2020. We have reduced water use by 2% through innovations such as low rinse laundry products. However, this has been offset by the growth of products with higher water use in the portfolio, including conventional laundry products.

We are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures on the risks and opportunities faced by Unilever (see pages 32 and 33 for more). Our carbon reduction targets, officially approved by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (a partnership between CDP, UN Global Compact, WRI and WWF) are a key part of our climate risk disclosures.

Since 2008, we have cut CO2 from energy in our manufacturing by 47% per tonne of production. As with water, our biggest greenhouse gas impact comes through consumer use. The greenhouse gas impact of our products across their lifecycle continues to edge up and has now increased by about 9% since 2010. The acquisition of some skin cleansing and hair care brands which have a higher greenhouse gas impact per consumer use, remains the main reason for this. See pages 7, 32 to 33 and 39 for more climate-related disclosures.

Our efforts on the environment have received external recognition. CDP, the non-profit global environmental disclosure platform, has awarded Unilever with a place on the 2017 A Lists for Climate, Water, Forests and Supplier Engagement. This recognises our actions in the last year to tackle climate change and the associated challenges of water scarcity, sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy use across our value chain.

ENHANCING LIVELIHOODS

Our activities have the potential to impact the livelihoods of not only our employees, but the millions of people who are involved in our value chain – notably smallholder farmers and small-scale retailers. By 2020, we aim to enhance the livelihoods of millions of people as we grow our business.

In 2017, we made steady progress across the three pillars of our Enhancing Livelihoods goal. We believe that women’s empowerment is the single greatest enabler of human development and economic growth. We are building a gender-balanced organisation (page 16) while promoting safety for women by working with UN Women in

Assam, India, and developing employment opportunities through the Shakti programme.

By 2017, we had enabled about 1,175,000 women to access initiatives aiming to develop their skills. Radiant, our laundry detergent brand, has formed a Career Academy initiative in India and Brazil to equip aspiring women with the skills to realise their potential.

As well as directly creating wealth and jobs, our business supports millions of people who source, make and sell our products – we call this inclusive business. In 2017, we enabled about 716,000 smallholder farmers and around 1.6 million small-scale retailers to access initiatives to improve agricultural practices or increase incomes. The Philippines Kabisig programme, for example, trains both retailers and their suppliers in stock control, financial management, sales and customer service – increasing the earning potential of small-scale retailers at the same time as growing turnover for Unilever. See page 17 for more.

Our Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP) is at the heart of our ambition to source 100% of procurement spend responsibly and through suppliers that meet our RSP requirements. In 2017, we relaunched our RSP programme to strengthen our approach and to drive an increase in the number of suppliers committing to the programme. The relaunch includes improved verification and remediation requirements, and anti-bribery and corruption compliance processes. We are focusing on addressing high risk issues in our supply chain and building capacity for our procurement function and our suppliers. In 2017, 55% of procurement spend was through suppliers who were assessed as meeting the mandatory requirements of the RSP.

We continue to focus on the eradication of forced labour in global supply chains through supplier awareness raising and training events, and have made progress on the removal of worker recruitment fees through the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment and Consumer Goods Forum. As part of our global Framework for Fair Compensation, we brought forward our ambition for no direct Unilever employee to earn less than a living wage, to the end of 2018. We joined the Ethical Tea Partnership to drive improvements for tea workers and farmers. We have also created Global Land Rights Principles and Guidance policy.

We continued to embed human rights with a focus on our eight salient issues (ie those at risk of the most severe negative impact through Unilever’s activities or business relationships) as described in our Human Rights Report. This report was updated at the end of 2017 to include disclosure on our human rights issues activities and due diligence processes. Human rights risks are included as part of our sustainability and ethical principal risks (see pages 28 and 30).

DRIVING TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

While we are on track to achieve most of our USLP commitments, we are also aware that the biggest challenges facing the world cannot be addressed by one company alone. We are changing ourselves as a business but we want to help change the system in which business is done. We want to act as catalysts for change more broadly, as convenors to facilitate progressive discussion and bring others together, and as collaborators in partnerships to deliver positive business, social and environmental impact at scale. By being part of the solution to the world’s challenges, businesses have the opportunity to win the trust of consumers while helping create societies and economies in which they can grow and succeed.

We aim to use our scale and influence to help bring about transformational change in four areas where we can make the biggest difference and which represent the biggest market opportunities for Unilever: Climate Change & Forests; Sustainable Agriculture, Land Use & Livelihoods; Health & Well-Being and Women’s Empowerment. To understand the challenges that are preventing society and our ecosystems from thriving, and to find ways to help address them, we take a multi-stakeholder approach. We engage with shareholders, governments, NGOs and civil society organisations and we shape the business landscape through advocacy. By leveraging our partnerships, blended finance, digital and new business models, we believe transformational change is possible.

REALISING THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FROM THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

OUR SCALE AND REACH MEAN WE ARE WELL PLACED TO CAPTURE VALUE FROM THE GLOBAL GOALS.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are fundamental to future economic and business growth. The Business & Sustainable Development Commission, co-founded by Unilever, concluded that

successful delivery of the SDGs will create market opportunities of at least $12 trillion a year. We are working to make progress across many of the SDGs through the USLP, which is our blueprint for sustainable growth. In doing so, we are unlocking new markets and investing in brands with purpose and innovation. Below we provide four examples where we are taking action. The interdependence and mutuality of the goals ensures that progress against one leads to progress against others. More details and examples of our approach and how we are benefiting from the SDGs can be found on our website.

OUR PEOPLE

WE ARE CREATING AN ORGANISATION AND CULTURE WHERE OUR EMPLOYEES ARE EMPOWERED TO ACT LIKE ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS OWNERS.

We are helping our people develop new skills, new ways of working and new entrepreneurial leadership qualities within a culture that values diversity in all its forms. In turn this helps us attract and retain the best talent which is vital to accelerate long-term value creation.

The macro forces described on page 8 have a fundamental impact on the workplace. Competition for talent is intensifying. The workforce is increasingly freelance and a job for life is no longer the norm. Once employed, people require continuous learning to reinvent themselves and they expect more flexibility in working practices. The growth of artificial intelligence and robotics is disrupting work in ways that are still being understood. Anxiety at work is on the rise and the composition of the workforce is changing. Millennials will be 60% of Unilever’s own workforce by 2020. At the same time the workforce is ageing and five generations may be working together in the same company in the 18-80 workforce. In short, a one-size-fits-all human resource strategy no longer works.

Our strategic approach to managing our workforce is: more simple, more human, more impact. We want to reduce complexity, understand our people as individuals, not by job titles or work levels, and personalise interventions to build the right leaders and teams. We are taking action across a number of areas to make this happen.

DEVELOPING AN OWNER’S MINDSET

C4G, our largest organisational change programme in more than a decade, was fully implemented during 2017 with the benefits to be realised progressively during 2018 and 2019. C4G encourages and equips people to adopt an owner’s mindset by giving them more control through a simplified organisational and reward structure. An owner’s mindset means more ownership and collaboration, clarity of purpose, more test and learn, embracing failure to gain insight, and an obsession with customers and consumers – ultimately driving long-term value creation and financial rewards for our employees. This mindset hands teams in local markets responsibility for business results. They are encouraged to treat resources as if they were their own, helping ensure we maintain the highest levels of efficiency.

Our C4G programme is the platform through which people are now empowered to deploy our zero-based budgeting approach to allocating resources and our 5S programme of supply chain margin improvement (see page 10). This drives simplification, partnerships with third parties, and smarter pricing policies in our channels. Part of developing an owner’s mindset, and coping with the quicker pace of change in our markets, is adopting an ‘always on’ learning culture. Learning and building capability is critical in a hyper-connected world. In 2017, we launched ‘My Learning’ powered by Degreed, a social learning platform with a daily feed of materials customised to individual profiles, combining Unilever content with external sources including TED Talks and MIT.

Behavioural change requires the right incentives. For 2,872 senior management employees, incentives have been simplified to include fixed pay, a bonus as a percentage of fixed pay and a long-term management co-investment plan (MCIP) linked to financial and USLP performance (see pages 6 and 7). In addition, the long-term MCIP will be rolled out to the remainder of management employees in 2018. For non-management employees, we have a share purchase scheme so that everyone can have a stake in Unilever’s long-term success.

GENDER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We are developing an inclusive culture, promoting gender balance and respecting the contribution of all employees regardless of gender, age, race, disability or sexual orientation. Consistent with our Code Policy on Respect, Dignity & Fair Treatment, Unilever aims to ensure that applications for employment from everyone are given full and fair consideration and that everyone is given access to training, development and career opportunities.

The USLP sets out clear targets for expanding opportunities and enhancing access to skills and training for women in our value chain. It also sets out our ambition to build a gender-balanced workforce within Unilever, with 50% of women in management positions by 2020. Our Opportunities for Women white paper, published in 2017, contains more details on these targets. We run programmes across Unilever aimed at attracting, retaining and developing female talent. This includes developing candidates for potential future roles, maintaining balanced slates, and practical help such as a minimum 16 weeks’ paid maternity leave as a global standard – more than the regulatory requirement in over 50% of countries where we operate.

Pay and overall reward is intended to be gender neutral, with any differences between employees in similar jobs reflecting performance and skill. Unilever has a long-standing commitment to gender equality and fairness in the workplace based on equal pay for equal work and achieving greater gender balance, particularly at management levels. Gender pay gaps develop where there is a representational imbalance between genders. Our Framework for Fair Compensation reviews average pay differences between genders at each work level.

By the end of 2017, 47% of total management were women, up from 46% in 2016. Among the top 93 executives, 22% were women (22% in 2016). If you include employees who are statutory directors of the corporate entities whose financial information is included in the Group’s 2017 consolidated accounts in this Annual Report and Accounts, the number increases to 510 males and 192 (27%) females. 38% (five out of 13) of the Board is female, compared with 43% (six out of 14) in 2016. Of our total workforce of 160,566, 107,064 (67%) were male and 53,502 (33%) were female at the end of 2017.

SAFETY

We continue our efforts to achieve our Vision Zero strategy: Zero Fatalities; Zero Injuries; Zero Motor Vehicle Accidents; Zero Process Incidents; and Zero Tolerance of Unsafe Behaviour and Practices. This vision is supported by our Code Policy on Occupational Health & Safety. Unilever reports safety data from October to September. Our Total Recordable Frequency Rate (TRFR) from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017 went from 1.01 accidents per 1 million hours worked to 0.89, as a result of the continuous focus on safety in high risk areas. In manufacturing, we focused on process safety through standards and enhanced individual qualifications as well as through our partner programme, Safety to Win. As a result of these initiatives, we achieved a 46% reduction in process safety incidents versus prior years. On our construction sites, we have focused on a global Work at Heights training programme. We continue to promote safe driving with the help of our new standards on safe travel to help mitigate road related risks.

BUSINESS INTEGRITY

We communicate our Code and Code Policies internally and externally. Our employees must undertake mandatory annual training on our Code and Code Policies via online training modules as well as making an annual business integrity pledge. The Code and Code Policies reflect our desire to fight corruption in all its forms. We are committed to being a no-bribe business and eradicating any practices or behaviours in this regard. This zero-tolerance policy extends to our employees, contractors, third parties, new acquisitions and joint-ventures. In 2017 we deployed new mandated interactive training on anti-bribery for all employees. Our Business Integrity guidelines include clear processes for managing Code breaches. In 2017, we closed 1,654 incidents across all areas of our Code and Code Policies, with 709 confirmed breaches. In 2017, we terminated 279 employees. Business integrity risks are included as part of our ethical and legal and regulatory principal risks (see page 31).

Unilever also requires its third-party business partners to adhere to business principles consistent with our own. These expectations are set out in our Responsible Sourcing Policy (RSP) and Responsible Business Partner Policy, which underpin our third-party compliance programme. We identify high risk partners who undergo specific due diligence via our third-party compliance programme. In 2017, we closed 85 key incidents across all areas of our RSP.

OUR PARTNERS

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL TO GROW OUR BUSINESS AND TO REACH THE AMBITIOUS TARGETS SET OUT IN THE USLP.

Our Code of Business Principles and Code Policies guide how we interact with our partners – among others suppliers, customers, governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and trade associations. Only authorised and appropriately trained employees or representatives can engage with these groups and a record should be kept of all interactions. All engagement must be conducted: in a transparent manner with honesty, integrity and openness; in compliance with local and international laws and in accordance with Unilever’s values (see page 1).

SUPPLIERS

Delivering Unilever’s Vision of growing our business, whilst decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth and improving our positive social impact, is not something we can achieve on our own. Every day, we work with thousands of suppliers who are helping us achieve success in the countries where our products are sold. Our suppliers help us innovate, create value, capacity and capability, deliver quality and service and drive market transformation with responsible and sustainable living.

A significant portion of our growth comes from innovation, delivering leading-edge products into the marketplace. We anticipate that around 70% of our innovations are linked to working with our strategic suppliers. That’s why we invest in long-term mutually beneficial relationships with our key suppliers through our Partner to Win programme, so we can share capabilities and co-innovate for shared growth. Partner to Win is about shaping the next horizon together and is a unique opportunity to unlock value for Unilever and our partners. It helps us strengthen supplier and customer collaboration, it enables improved overall end-to-end operational efficiency and mutual capability building and sharing.

CUSTOMERS

In a fragmented channel landscape, those companies that best serve their shoppers and customers with bespoke solutions will benefit most. Unilever serves consumers through ten different channels: hyper and supermarkets, e-commerce, out of home, drug stores, small stores, discounters, Food Solutions, Unilever International, prestige channel and global retail. We serve around 25 million retail stores globally of which we cover eight million directly and another 17 million indirectly through wholesale and cash & carry. Unilever has had a historic competitive advantage through its distributor network covering around seven million stores, which contribute to approximately 20% of our turnover.

Hyper and supermarkets represent around 50% of our current turnover and are under growth and margin pressure with shoppers moving to discounters and e-commerce. Experiential concepts play an important role to ensure that Unilever brands enjoy the best positioning and visibility in store. To respond to these challenges in Europe, in partnership with our customer Carrefour, we created the ‘Aisle of Joy’ concept which is currently in over 1,000 stores and driving ice cream growth. Similarly, our ‘What’s for dinner’ programme has approximately 190,000 touchpoints in Europe and ensures proximity of Unilever food products with relevant ingredients.

We are rolling out a technology solution to connect retailers to distributors. We are also upskilling small-scale retailers by professionalising their store operations. For instance, our Kabisig Summits in the Philippines train both retailers and their suppliers in stock control, financial management, sales and customer service. To date, over 87,000 owners have attended summits, delivering a significant uplift in our turnover.

In Kenya, we have formed a partnership with Mastercard to offer a low risk credit solution for the purchase of Unilever products. This not only increases the earnings potential of retailers, but ensures that our

products are stocked and available. If the pilot is successful we hope to roll the partnership out to other markets where we have a large number of small-scale retailers.

E-commerce remains a key and growing channel. Our online business is now close to delivering 4% of Unilever turnover. We are actively driving e-commerce sales in 39 markets. Our focus is to build a balanced e-commerce business model, growing across e-retailers, bricks and mortar online sales and direct-to-consumer businesses. We continue to roll out our Perfect Store concept to online channels, ensuring shoppers can find variants of Unilever brands quickly and easily, regardless of screen size or device.

GOVERNMENTS

We co-operate with and engage with governments, regulators and legislators, both directly and through trade associations, in the development of proposed legislation and regulation which may affect our business interests. All employees involved in political engagement must promote our corporate principles and comply with our Code of Business Principles and Code Policies. We do not support or fund political parties or candidates or any groups that promote party interests. No political contributions were made in 2017. Our participation in policy discussions is varied, covering macro topics like climate change, through to detailed product safety standards. We engage with stakeholders directly as Unilever or through membership of representative organisations, including trade associations.

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

We are members of and support a number of trade associations and similar organisations which help us to advance our public policy interests. We keep a record of our trade association memberships and membership fees, which is regularly updated. We also engage with peer companies, both individually and in coalitions, on issues of mutual interest. This includes working together to implement sustainable business strategies and drive change.

These associations reflect our global scale and presence across several product categories. We list our major global memberships in the ‘Engaging with Stakeholders’ section on our website. We are registered in the Transparency Register of the European Union. Our trade association memberships in the US can be found on the FAQ section of the Unilever USA website.

Our businesses are active at a local level participating in trade associations in our markets and contributing to public policy and interest group debates in areas such as safety and environmental impact, sustainable sourcing and nutrition. They do so in clear alignment with global priorities and closely follow local laws and Unilever’s Code of Business Principles and Code Policies.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

We are building transformational partnerships in collaboration with NGOs and other stakeholders who share our vision for a more sustainable future. These partnerships are instrumental in improving the quality of people’s lives, achieving our USLP targets and driving the growth of our business.

In collaboration with NGOs, we build programmes on the ground to implement our brands’ social missions in addition to advancing our efforts in areas such as sustainable sourcing and distribution – often in partnership with governments and other private sector organisations. We drive scale through new business models, digital technologies and external financing.

We recognise that our actions alone cannot achieve the system change necessary to overcome the world’s major challenges, such as climate change and poverty. Our leadership engages with stakeholders through platforms such as the World Economic Forum, UN Global Compact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Consumer Goods Forum, championing a more inclusive model of capitalism and the pursuit of long-term value creation for the benefit of multiple stakeholders. Partnerships with NGOs are crucial to deliver the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (see page 15).

OUR SHAREHOLDERS

DESPITE CONTINUED VOLATILITY IN OUR MARKETS, OUR PROVEN MODEL OF LONG-TERM COMPOUNDING GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE VALUE CREATION ENSURED ANOTHER GOOD YEAR FOR SHAREHOLDERS.

Underlying sales growth for 2017 was up 3.1% and underlying operating margin was 17.5%, a rise of 110 basis points. Turnover growth for 2017 was 1.9% and operating margin was 16.5%. Underlying earnings per share was € 2.24 a rise of 10.7% and dividends were increased 12%, reflecting Unilever’s confidence in future profit growth and cash generation. Diluted earnings per share was € 2.15. For information on our non-GAAP measure, see pages 22 to 24.

Over the last three years, our sustainable value creation model has continued to deliver for shareholders. Between 2015 and 2017, average underlying sales growth rose 3.6% a year and underlying operating margin rose 190 basis points to 17.5%. Turnover grew an average of 3.6% a year and underlying earnings per share was up 7.8% a year. During this period, we generated € 15 billion of free cash flow while a high-teens return on capital was maintained. Dividends rose an average of 8% a year and our share price has risen 58% for PLC shareholders and 46% for NV shareholders.

Over the past three years total shareholder returns have increased 49%, reflecting Unilever’s enduring strengths: a portfolio of purpose-led global and local brands, a presence in more than 190 countries with 58% of turnover generated from emerging markets, deep penetration and expertise in channels reaching 2.5 billion consumers every day, and a talent pool of local management – over 70% of our leaders are local.

Generating growth ahead of our markets remains a principal objective for our categories across most of our geographies. While overall market growth remains subdued, especially in developing markets, conditions are starting to pick up in many emerging markets. The implementation of C4G and the steps we have taken to drive efficiency gains and margin expansion, means we have the resources to invest behind our brands to continue to deliver top and bottom line growth (see page 28 for risks).

DEVELOPMENTS IN 2017

With this track record in mind, the Boards undertook a detailed and comprehensive review of options to accelerate sustainable value creation. The review, announced in February 2017 and completed by early April 2017, highlighted the quickened pace of change in our markets and the opportunity to unlock more shareholder value, at a faster pace over the next three years by accelerating our C4G change programme and driving targeted savings through zero-based budgeting and, in the supply chain, our 5S programme (see page 10).

Targets for value creation were announced as part of the review. These include underlying sales growth (USG) ahead of our markets, which in current market conditions is expected to translate into USG of 3-5%. Overall underlying operating margin is targeted to expand to 20% in 2020 compared to 17.5% in 2017, supported by an increase in expected cumulative savings during the three-year period 2017-2019 from € 4 billion to € 6 billion. Balance sheet leverage is targeted at 2.0x Net Debt to EBITDA consistent with a credit rating of at least A/A2. A € 5 billion share buyback was completed in 2017 and further returns to shareholders will be assessed versus the opportunity to undertake value-enhancing acquisitions. Meanwhile a high-teens return on invested capital is targeted as well as sustainable, attractive and growing dividends.

Having embedded C4G, we also started to combine our Foods and Refreshment categories to create a world-leading business with turnover of more than € 20 billion. The category will unlock future growth more quickly and result in faster margin progression and took effect from 1 January 2018. It is headquartered in the Netherlands where we are also establishing a Global Foods Innovation Centre.

As previously announced, the Boards are conducting a review of the dual-headed legal structure. This review is progressing well and the Boards consider that unification with a single share class would be in the best interests of Unilever and its shareholders as a whole, providing greater ongoing strategic flexibility for value-creating portfolio change. The review by the Boards is continuing and the outcome will be announced in due course. Whatever the outcome, upon any unification, the Boards intend to: maintain listings in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States; continue to apply both the UK and Dutch corporate governance codes and terminate the NV preference shares.

EVOLVING OUR PORTFOLIO

Our brand portfolio continues to evolve to match our categories’ strategic priorities, resulting in the sale of assets that no longer fit our growth model or the acquisition of assets that take us into new market segments and build new market positions. This active portfolio management means that in the past eight years we have sold € 5.8 billion of turnover (excluding Spreads), mainly in the lower growth Foods businesses. During that same period, we have acquired approximately € 4.7 billion of turnover. With the exception of brands launched in countries where they were not previously sold, acquisitions and disposals only contribute to underlying sales growth from 12 months after completion. The acquisitions and disposals made or announced since 2015 are expected to add one percentage point to our ongoing underlying sales growth rate from 2019.

Our acquisitions approach identifies brands that provide Unilever with a position in higher growth segments, some of which could become the € 1 billion brands of the future. These include Personal Care (eg Carver Korea) and prestige businesses (eg Living Proof) as well as premium price brands in mass markets (eg Sir Kensington’s), new channels (eg Dollar Shave Club) and naturals segments (eg Seventh Generation). The acquired businesses are often run using flexible business models, preserving their entrepreneurial culture.

During 2017, we announced the acquisition of Carver Korea for € 2.28 billion, the fastest growing skincare business in South Korea giving access to the North Asian skincare markets. Hourglass was acquired as a luxury colour cosmetics brand, a high growth category driven by social media and channel diversity, that joins our growing prestige range built from previous acquisitions in recent years, such as Dermalogica and Murad. Meanwhile, we announced an agreement to acquire the personal care and home care business of Quala S.A. in 2017 which will bring leading local brands to Unilever in north Latin America in haircare, oral care, male grooming and fabric conditioners.

In Foods and Refreshment, we announced the acquisition of Brazilian natural and organic foods business Mãe Terra - popular with increasingly health-conscious consumers. We also acquired Pukka Herbs, the world’s fastest growing organic tea brand, to continue the process of premiumising our tea portfolio. Sir Kensington’s, another acquisition during the year, is a US condiments business in the organic and naturals segment with a strong millennial consumer base that complements Unilever’s sustainable sourcing policies and further modernises the Foods portfolio. We also added to our ice cream brands with the acquisition in Australia of Weis which uses locally sourced, natural and high quality ingredients.

In 2017 we announced the disposal of our Spreads business to KKR for € 6.825 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis. The offer is subject to certain regulatory approvals and employee consultation in certain jurisdictions. Completion is expected mid-2018. We intend to return the net cash realised to shareholders, unless more value-creating acquisition alternatives arise. During 2017 we also announced the sale of the South Africa spreads business to Remgro and completed the sale of AdeS in Latin America to Coca Cola FEMSA and The Coca Cola Company for US$575 million.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

CASH FLOW

Free cash flow increased by € 0.6 billion to € 5.4 billion despite a one-off contribution of € 0.6 billion to our pension funds. Cash flow from operating activities was € 9.5 billion, an increase of € 0.2 billion compared to the prior year. The increase was driven by higher operating profit and lower capital expenditure, which was 3.0% of turnover compared to 3.6% of turnover in the prior year, partially offset by the one-off contribution to pension funds.

Net outflow from investing activities was € 5.9 billion (2016: € 3.2 billion) reflecting an increase in acquisitions during the year (see note 21).

Net outflow in financing activities was € 1.4 billion compared to € 3.1 billion in the prior year. The decrease relates to higher borrowings during the year partly off-set by investment in acquisitions and the share buyback programme of € 5 billion.

BALANCE SHEET

At 31 December 2017, Unilever’s combined market capitalisation was € 127.9 billion compared with € 110.2 billion at the end of 2016.

Goodwill and intangible assets increased by € 1.0 billion mainly coming from the acquisitions of Carver Korea and Sundial Brands, partly offset by goodwill relating to the Spreads business which has been classified as held for sale. All material goodwill and indefinite-life intangible assets have been tested for impairment with no charge recognised during the year.

Other non-current assets remained flat at € 15.0 billion. This includes pension assets for funded schemes in surplus amounting to € 2.2 billion compared to € 0.7 billion in 2016. The increase was driven by strong investment returns and a one-off cash injection of € 0.6 billion.

Assets held for sale of € 3.2 billion and liabilities held for sale of € 0.2 billion primarily relate to the Spreads business which we have signed an agreement to sell. Other current assets were € 13.7 billion which is the same level as in the prior year.

Other current liabilities were € 23.0 billion (2016: € 20.6 billion) and non-current liabilities were € 22.7 billion (2016: € 18.9 billion) The increase in borrowings reflects the share buyback of € 5 billion and the cost of acquisitions.

On 30 January 2017 we issued £0.35 billion 1.125% fixed rate notes due February 2022. On 9 February 2017 we issued a € 1.2 billion bond, equally split between 0.375% fixed rate notes due February 2023 and 1.0% fixed rate notes due February 2027. On 2 May 2017 we issued a quadruple-tranche $3.15 billion bond, comprising of fixed rate notes of $0.8 billion at 1.8% due May 2020, $0.85 billion at 2.2% due May 2022, $0.5 billion at 2.6% due May 2024 and $1.0 billion at 2.9% due May 2027. On 31 July 2017 we issued a triple-tranche € 1.9 billion bond, comprising of fixed rate notes of € 0.5 billion at 0% due July 2021, € 0.65 billion at 0.875% due July 2025 and € 0.75 billion at 1.375% due July 2029. On 15 September 2017 we issued a £0.5 billion bond, equally split between 1.375% fixed rate notes due September 2024 and 1.875 % fixed rate notes due September 2029.

The table below shows the movement in net pension liability during the year. The reduction from € 3.2 billion at the beginning of the year to € 0.6 billion at the end of 2017 was primarily due to strong investment returns and company contributions to defined benefit plans, mainly in the UK. Cash expenditure on pensions was € 1.3 billion (2016: € 0.7 billion).

FINANCE AND LIQUIDITY

Approximately € 1.0 billion (or 31%) of the Group’s cash and cash equivalents are held in the parent and central finance companies, for ensuring maximum flexibility. These companies provide loans to our subsidiaries that are also funded through retained earnings and third party borrowings. We maintain access to global debt markets through an infrastructure of short and long-term debt programmes. We make use of plain vanilla derivatives, such as interest rate swaps and foreign exchange contracts, to help mitigate risks. More detail is provided in notes 16, 16A, 16B and 16C on pages 121 to 126.

The remaining € 2.3 billion (69%) of the Group’s cash and cash equivalents are held in foreign subsidiaries which repatriate distributable reserves on a regular basis. For most countries, this is done through dividends free of tax. This balance includes € 206 million (2016: € 240 million, 2015: € 284 million) of cash that is held in a few countries where we face cross-border foreign exchange controls and/or other legal restrictions that inhibit our ability to make these balances available in any means for general use by the wider business. The cash will generally be invested or held in the relevant country and, given the other capital resources available to the Group, does not significantly affect the ability of the Group to meet its cash obligations.

We closely monitor all our exposures and counter-party limits. Unilever has committed credit facilities in place for general corporate purposes. The undrawn bilateral committed credit facilities in place on 31 December 2017 were US$ 7,865 million. Further details are given in note 16A. In addition, Unilever had undrawn revolving 364-day bilateral credit facilities in aggregate of € 4,000 million.