Surprise in the business world: an Argentine will manage Unilever worldwide

Consumer group Unilever, which owns brands such as Dove, Cif, Rexona, Knorr and Hellmann, among others, surprised investors on Tuesday by replacing its CEO Hein Schumacher with the man who until now had been the number one in finance, the Argentine Fernando Fernández. He will have to take on the difficult task of reviving the performance of the consumer group.

Fernandez will take up his new role on March 1, succeeding Schumacher, who held the post for less than two years.

Fernandez was born and raised in Argentina and studied economics at the University of Buenos Aires. Before becoming CFO in January 2024, he served as President of the Beauty & Wellness business, one of Unilever’s fastest-growing businesses. In previous roles as President for Latin America, CEO of Brazil and CEO of the Philippines, he led some of the company’s best-performing markets.

"He has a strong track record in performance and portfolio management, a love of brands and a deep understanding of Unilever's operations," Unilever Chairman Ian Meakins said of Fernandez.

Fernandez will take over Unilever amid the process of spinning off its ice cream division. The company said this month it will list the unit primarily in Amsterdam, with London and New York having secondary listings. Unilever also reported a 4% rise in underlying group sales in the fourth quarter, narrowly beating expectations, and said earnings should improve modestly in 2025.

The results suggest the turnaround under Schumacher "has stalled somewhat , with guidance weak and sales growth likely only to improve as the company passes on higher raw material costs," Chris Beckett, director of equity research at Quilter Cheviot, said, according to Bloomberg.