Unilever turns to ‘avocado mayonnaise’ as food weighs on profit ahead of spin-off Retail Unilever has turned to novel products including “avocado mayonnaise” in a bid to boost ailing sales in its food arm, which is poised to be spun off in a £33bn deal. The consumer goods giant upgraded its sales expectations but saw the performance of its food business and European operations drag on the group’s operating [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops; Unilever shares soar on decade-best sales Markets Welcome back to the Morning Wire FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Tuesday and the UK’s blue-chip index has made strong gains following a peaky start to the day. The markets took a boost yesterday after oil dropped back after reaching two-month highs of more than $100 per barrel last week when the Iran backed-Houthis took responsibility for tanker [...]
Terry Smith dubs weight-loss giant Novo Nordisk ‘investment disaster’ Investing Star stockpicker Terry Smith has dubbed weight-loss giant Novo Nordisk an “investment disaster” less than two years after he dumped his entire Diageo stake over fears that GLP-1 users would ditch alcohol. The veteran investment manager, who runs the Fundsmith Equity fund, has said that he regrets his investment in the Danish pharmaceutical firm. “Novo [...]
Unilever chief on how to activate 35 brands at the Fifa World Cup June 30, 2026 With the World Cup a sponsor’s heaven, Matt Hardy asks Unilever how the FMCG behemoth activates 35 brands amid a need to be noticed. A number of the brand campaigns at this Fifa World Cup have been sublime, others have fallen a little flat. Activating at a tournament watched by billions across nearly 200 countries [...]
Pigment boss: ‘We’re replacing legacy players at the speed of light’ June 24, 2026 Eléonore Crespo, co-founder and chief executive of Pigment, said the company is replacing legacy enterprise software providers “at the speed of light”, as demand for AI-native business planning accelerates across the private sector. The Paris-headquartered platform, which helps companies including Unilever, Siemens, Anthropic and Coca-Cola run financial planning and performance management, is approaching $100m (£75m) [...]
Terry Smith sells Magnum stake weeks after Unilever salvo June 23, 2026 Star stockpicker Terry Smith has offloaded his entire holding in Unilever spin-off Magnum Ice Cream just weeks after exiting his stake in its former parent company, which he accused of abandoning the priorities of its long-term investors. Smith, the feted fund manager who runs the £12.7bn Fundsmith Equity Fund, dumped his stake in Amsterdam-listed Magnum [...]
Burberry delays climate pledge by a decade to 2050 May 29, 2026 Burberry has pushed back its net zero target by a decade, becoming the latest blue-chip business to water down ambitious climate goals set in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Morning Wire can reveal. The high-end fashion firm, known for its trench coats and tartan scarves, made the decision to delay its target to become [...]
Exclusive: F1 Academy launch partnership with Unilever’s Dirt is Good May 18, 2026 Unilever brand Dirt Is Good will today announce a partnership with the all-female racing series F1 Academy, Morning Wire can reveal. The laundry group, which counts OMO, Persil, breeze and Skip within its brand portfolio, has signed a multi-year deal with the single-seater series which will begin this weekend in Canada. F1 Academy is an [...]
Star stockpicker Terry Smith dumps entire Unilever holding after McCormick mega-merger May 12, 2026 One of Britain’s best-known fund managers has dumped his holding in Unilever worth hundreds of millions of pounds, accusing the consumer goods giant of abandoning its traditional shareholders in favour of activist-driven deals like last month’s McCormick mega-deal. Terry Smith, the star stockpicker behind the £12.5bn Fundsmith Equity Fund, sold out of his position in [...]
Unilever beats analyst expectations but food spin-off costs up to €500m April 30, 2026 Unilever beat analyst expectations to record nearly three per cent volume growth, despite a €500m hit from its food spin-off and falling revenue. The FTSE 100 consumer goods giant said it will face between €400m and €500m (up to £433m) of “stranded costs” after it offloaded its food brands – including Marmite and Hellman’s – [...]