Jul 30, 2026 earnings call — Growth from innovation and productivity
Delivered EUR 4.7 billion revenue with organic sales growth of 4.7%.
Revenue $5.4B (est $5.2B) · EPS $0.82 (est $0.78)
Key quotes
"I have spent a significant part of my career in ice cream, and I cannot remember a time when this much innovation was successfully delivered into the market for Magnum and Ben & Jerry's."
"Disciplined execution of our productivity program delivered EUR 90 million savings during the first half, helping us deliver underlying margin improvement and providing fuel for growth."
"AMEA continued to deliver strong growth with sales 7.6% higher."
Analyst Q&A 9
summer sales and Turkiye margins
Q (Warren Ackerman · Barclays): He asked how much strong trading should carry into Q3 and asked for July exit rate and market share trends. He also asked if Turkiye margins must fall after the TCA and how that compares to India and Brazil margins.
A: Management said the ice cream market is strong and they have been gaining share in many markets, including the U.S. and Europe. For Turkiye they complied with the investigation, opened cabinets in small outlets, and said the Turkish business is extremely healthy and should return to both volume growth and high value growth for the full year; they remain committed to investments in India and are making structural changes in Brazil.
"We believe it will go back over the full year to both volume growth and continues at high value growth level." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
full-year guidance and margins
Q (Celine Pannuti · JPMorgan): She asked if the company expects to end the year at the top end of its sales range and why management would not quantify that. She also asked why margin guidance is conservative and what negatives offset the H1 beat.
A: Management affirmed the full-year outlook and said they remain committed to deliver EBITDA improvement in line with guidance. They repeated the outlook range and said they still expect improvement in H2; they also noted they are 30 basis points behind at the end of H1 so H2 must improve to meet the full-year margin target.
"Today, we affirmed our outlook to achieve 3% to 5%." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
commodity outlook and Cornetto
Q (Guillaume Gerard Delmas · UBS): He asked how the commodity outlook changed since April, whether cocoa/energy will produce a net benefit in H2 versus the 200 basis points headwind in H1. He also asked why Cornetto growth was muted and the brand ambition.
A: Management said chocolate prices were still high in H1 but will ease in H2, TSAs from H1 will reverse in H2, and energy has been volatile; they stick with guidance and expect a modest profitability step-up in H2. On Cornetto they said recent weakness in China (poor weather) weighed on growth, but they have many innovations including premium cones (via Magnum), sandwiches and sticks, and Cornetto is strong in India.
"Overall, we, therefore, stick with guidance and will deliver a modest profitability step-up in the second half year." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
accounting for customer returns
Q (Jeff Stent · BNP Paribas): He asked the company to explain the change in how customer returns are treated and why that affects reported pricing. He also asked how you book a return before the product is returned.
A: Management said previously returns in Turkiye were all booked in Q4. They now book part of the returns in Q3 and the rest in Q4 so the returns match when revenue is booked; this changes Q3 and Q4 volume and price patterns but has no impact for the half. When returns are booked before physical return they make a provision.
"What we are doing now is we change that to account for it in Q3 partly and in Q4, so that the returns are accounted for matching with when the revenue is booked." — Abhijit Bhattacharya (CFO)
volume trends US and China
Q (Robert Jan Vos · ABN AMRO, ODDO BHF): He asked why volumes were flat and wanted details on U.S. volume development in Q2. He also asked what drove China in Q2 and whether the drag was just weather.
A: In the U.S., growth was 3.6% and driven by the fast-growing handheld segment, which is more premium so it brings pieces and price rather than big bucket volumes. In China they had a strong Q1 but poor weather in May and June in the east hit sales; structurally they see convenience and a fast-growing snacking channel and are pivoting to lower-tier cities.
"Our 3.6% growth in the U.S. is driven on the growth of handheld ice cream in America." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
H1 margin drivers and TSAs
Q (Maxime Stranart · ING Bank): He asked what specifically drove the H1 adjusted EBITDA margin improvement and what challenges remain. He also asked for an update on TSAs and what remains to be done.
A: Management said H1 margin improvement was in line with plan and mainly driven by the productivity program and some pricing, with some energy impact in H1. On TSAs, most service TSAs provided by Unilever have been exited; the remaining IT-related TSAs will be removed country-by-country as the new IT stack rolls out from November/December and will run until the end of next year.
"If you look at the margin improvement in the first half, it's in line with what we had expected, primarily driven by the productivity program that is running, a little bit from pricing, of course." — Abhijit Bhattacharya (CFO)
India growth and US distribution
Q (Bingqing Zhu · Rothschild & Redburn): He asked what drove double-digit growth in India, whether the pace is sustainable, and when India will materially contribute. He also asked for an update on U.S. club and digital distribution progress.
A: Management said they rebuilt the India team and structure, changed pricing, moved from vegetable fat to dairy, focused on premium brands, rebuilt sales and placed many cabinets (50,000 last year and 50,000 this year); it's working but still loss-making while they invest and will improve with scale and new factories. In the U.S. they are rebuilding the value channel and distribution: they are back in some accounts, doing well in Sam's, working on broader Costco presence, and see more growth opportunities over coming years.
"So wholesale change of the Indian system, and it seems to be working." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
pricing talks and out-of-home pricing
Q (Tom Sykes · Deutsche Bank): He asked when pricing negotiations with major retailers start and how pricing power differs out-of-home versus large retailers. He also asked about holding raw material benefits in out-of-home and if next year growth will be more volume-led.
A: Management said they start discussing full portfolio and marketing plans with retailers in September and typically conclude at the start of the year. They explained out-of-home pricing is aligned with broader snacking price points (bottle of Coke, bag of chips), is a fragmented channel with lower individual retailer pricing power across 3 million cabinets, and in-home pricing is strategic and disciplined by brand and retailer dynamics.
"Yes, basically, we start discussing our full portfolio plans and marketing plans with retailers in September." — Peter Kulve (CEO)
Europe pricing and innovation impact
Q (Jeremy Kincaid · VLK): He asked why Europe showed negative organic price growth and how much innovation contributed to growth this quarter. He also asked whether the current rate of innovation must continue.
A: Management said innovation is a core growth driver and that roughly 40% of business growth is driven by innovation; they renovate core products, expand formats and take core brands into different occasions. On Europe pricing they said they are a volume-led business, dynamically adjusting pricing to keep volume growth, and will continue to act quickly on pricing to protect volumes.
"We believe this is sort of 40% of our growth of the business is driven by innovation." — Peter Kulve (CEO)