Consumer goods giant Unilever expects emerging markets to contribute 75 per cent of revenues by the end of this decade, up from 56 per cent now, said Paul Polman, CEO.

Polman, who inaugurated Unilever’s global IT innovation centre at Whitefield near herem told the media that Unilever is an “emerging markets company” and most of the growth will come from these countries. Of the 28 factories that are proposed to be built, all but two are in developing countries, he said.

Unilever COO Harish Manwani said the company has the widest footprint amongst its peers in developing markets.

“Already 56 per cent of revenues is from emerging economies, so to go to 75 per cent is not inconceivable. We have grown the business at 8-9 per cent and last two years we have grown it at double digits.”

Polman pointed out that the growth is of quality. “It is profitable, volume and market share growth. We know how to manage these markets. We are on the right trajectory.”

The India business contributes around 8 per cent.

Unilever has doubled its capital spending to €4-5 billion. The group has added $10 billion more to its topline in the past three years compared to its competitors, he said.

clusters

Unilever has divided the globe into eight clusters to conduct its business. “Some clusters will grow faster and we see that 75 per cent of business will come from six clusters,” Polman said.

Asked if Unilever will grow through acquisitions, he said, “If you look at the growth of Unilever, it has grown at 10-11 per cent — double the rates of our competitors. All the growth is organic, it’s true that we have taken over businesses such as Alberto Culver in the US and Sara Lee’s business in Europe, but they are modest businesses. And you have to offset the businesses that we have exited, such as the frozen (foods) businesses in the US. So, 90-95 per cent growth will come from our own organic growth.”

>vinay.kamath @thehindu.co.in,

>kgiriprakash @thehindu.co.in

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