Unilever
Unilever's revenue fell 3.8% to €50.5 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 17.9%, up from 16.8% a year earlier. Free cash flow was €6.9 billion, down 14.8%. It paid out €4.5 billion in dividends and buybacks, 64% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 1.5%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 10.1% a year and net income 6.9% a year, as the share count fell by 23%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 3.9 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | 26.5 | 26.7 | 28.6 | 26.0 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | — | 22.2 | 22.5 | 22.5 | 22.1 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | 1.8x | 2.2x | 2.2x | 2.1x |
| Debt to equity | — | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.4x | 1.7x |
| Interest coverage | 17.7x | 13.2x | 9.8x | 8.9x | 8.8x |
| Current ratio | 0.7x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.8x |
| Quick ratio | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.6x |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 6 of 9 | 6 of 9 | 7 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −3.8% | −4.9% | 1.5% |
Compare
Put Unilever side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unilever | FY25 | −3.8% | 17.9% | 13.7% | 15.2% | 2.1x | 7 | |
| Procter & Gamble | FY26 | 3.3% | 22.7% | 17.4% | 20.1% | 1.1x | 6 | Compare |
| Kenvue | FY25 | −2.1% | 16.0% | 11.4% | 10.0% | 2.5x | 6 | Compare |
| Estée Lauder Companies | FY26 | 5.0% | 5.2% | 8.7% | 4.9% | 2.4x | 6 | Compare |
| Haleon | FY25 | −1.8% | 21.9% | 21.0% | 7.9% | 2.6x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 52.7 | 53.7 | 51.0 | 52.0 | 50.7 | 52.4 | 60.1 | 51.7 | 52.5 | 50.5 |
| Revenue growth | −1.1% | 1.9% | −5.1% | 2.0% | −2.4% | 3.4% | 14.6% | −14.0% | 1.6% | −3.8% |
| Gross profit | 22.5 | 23.2 | 22.3 | 22.9 | 22.0 | 22.2 | 24.2 | 22.5 | 24.5 | 23.7 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| Operating income | 7.8 | 9.0 | 12.6 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 10.8 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 9.0 |
| Net income | 5.2 | 6.0 | 9.4 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 9.5 |
| Diluted EPS (EUR) | 1.82 | 2.14 | 3.48 | 2.14 | 2.12 | 2.32 | 2.99 | 2.89 | 2.58 | 4.32 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 2,854 | 2,814 | 2,695 | 2,627 | 2,630 | 2,610 | 2,560 | 2,251 | 2,228 | 2,195 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 7.0 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 9.1 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 8.3 |
| Capital expenditure | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Free cash flow | 5.2 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 6.9 |
| Dividends paid | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Share buybacks | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Acquisitions | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 3.9 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26.5 | 26.7 | 28.6 | 26.0 |
| Total assets | 56.4 | 60.3 | 61.1 | 64.8 | 67.7 | 75.1 | 77.8 | 75.3 | 79.8 | 70.5 |
| Total liabilities | 39.4 | 45.9 | 49.0 | 50.9 | 50.0 | 55.3 | 56.1 | 54.5 | 57.2 | 52.9 |
| Shareholders' equity | 16.4 | 13.6 | 11.4 | 13.2 | 15.3 | 17.1 | 19.0 | 18.1 | 20.0 | 15.5 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 42.6% | 43.2% | 43.7% | 44.0% | 43.5% | 42.3% | 40.2% | 43.5% | 46.7% | 47.0% |
| Operating margin | 14.8% | 16.7% | 24.8% | 16.8% | 16.4% | 16.6% | 17.9% | 17.4% | 16.8% | 17.9% |
| Net margin | 9.8% | 11.2% | 18.4% | 10.8% | 11.0% | 11.5% | 12.7% | 12.6% | 10.9% | 18.8% |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.9% | 11.9% | 11.8% | 13.1% | 16.2% | 13.1% | 9.7% | 15.9% | 15.5% | 13.7% |
| Return on capital | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15.9% | 14.4% | 15.2% |
| Return on equity | — | 40.2% | 74.9% | 45.8% | 39.2% | 37.4% | 42.3% | 35.0% | 30.2% | 53.3% |
| Return on assets | — | 10.3% | 15.4% | 8.9% | 8.4% | 8.5% | 10.0% | 8.5% | 7.4% | 12.6% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.8x | 2.2x | 2.2x | 2.1x |