Unilever slammed over £750m Russia sales bonanza

The British company behind Marmite and Cornetto was last night accused of making ‘blood money’ after raking in three-quarters of a billion pounds in sales in Russia.

Unilever, whose brands also include Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, has sparked outrage by refusing to pull out of the country in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

In a bumper set of results yesterday, the firm reported sales of £750million in Russia for 2022 and profits of £147million.

‘Blood money’: In a bumper set of results yesterday, Unilever, run by boss Alan Jope (pictured), reported sales of £750m in Russia for 2022 and profits of £147m

Campaigners said the amount Unilever was making from Russia ‘exceeds our worst fears’ and dubbed the sales ‘blood money’.

It is a major embarrassment for a firm known for attempting to burnish its ‘woke’ credentials.

US anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder said: ‘Unilever management has blood on its hands by profiting from the Russian economy. History will judge this decision very poorly.’

Unilever, whose catalogue of household staples also includes Domestos bleach, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream defended its position. 

Chief executive Alan Jope argued that leaving Russia was ‘not straightforward’ and it was not trying to protect commercial interests by staying.

The 60-year-old, who is due to step down in July, said quitting would see Unilever’s operations fall into Vladimir Putin’s hands and its assets and brands ‘appropriated by the Russian state’.

He also said it would ‘not be right’ to abandon 3,500 staff, adding the company was supporting efforts to help those suffering in Ukraine ‘to the max’, such as through donations to Unicef.

However, it would ‘continue to review and disclose the financial implications from the conflict’. 

But the Moral Rating Agency, a lobby group which monitors Western firms operating in Russia, called on Unilever ‘to do the moral thing and side with democracy and civilisation’. 

Having last week estimated Unilever made £556million of sales in Russia last year, the agency’s founder Mark Dixon said: ‘Unilever’s blood money exceeds our worst fears. They are cashing in over in Russia and cocking a snook at all civilised people.

‘Unilever must stop hiding behind its balance sheet and excuses to face the reality that selling an ice cream can allow Putin to pay for a bullet.’

Labour MP Chris Bryant said: ‘I can’t believe the excuses. It’s as if they have either completely lost their sense of common decency, or they are happy to remain complicit in Russia’s war.’

In March, Unilever pledged to create an economic ringfence around the country, suspending all imports and exports of its products into and out of Russia.

It promised to only sell locally-made ‘essential food and hygiene products’ in Russia. Since then, it was revealed that it still sells Magnums and Cornettos in Russia. 

Asked about Ukraine, Jope said: ‘Of course, we absolutely condemn the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless, unnecessary act by the Russian state.’

And there’s more price hikes to come

Unilever, which makes Magnum ice creams, put up prices by an average of 11.3% last year

Unilever warned price rises are not over even as it rakes in more than £1bn a week.

The FTSE 100 company, put up prices by an average of 11.3 per cent last year. A 400g jar of Hellmann’s mayonnaise went up 42 per cent and a six-pack of Dove soap has risen 21 per cent to £3.50.

The hikes helped Unilever rake in £53.2billion in 2022 – up 14.5 per cent on a year earlier – as profits jumped 25 per cent to £7.3billion. Bosses warned there was worse to come.

‘We’re probably past peak inflation, but we’re not yet at peak prices,’ said chief executive Alan Jope. Finance chief Graeme Pitkethly insisted overall hikes this year would be at a ‘lower rate’ than in 2022.

Jope denied it was ‘profiteering’ by using the inflation crisis as cover to ramp up prices.

He said: ‘Most retailers want to offer the best possible value.’

While prices rose 11.3 per cent, sales volumes fell 2.1 per cent. In the fourth quarter, prices were up 13.3 per cent while volumes fell 3.6 per cent.

Unilever said it was optimistic sales volumes would recover as inflation eases. Jope said the company has only passed on 75 per cent of the cost inflation it was feeling to customers.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk