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DISCLAIMERThis is a PDF version of the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2017 andis an exact copy of the printed document provided to Unilever’s shareholders.Certain sections of the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2017 have beenaudited. These are on pages 86 to 155, and those parts noted as audited withinthe Directors’ Remuneration Report on pages 47 to 76.The maintenance and integrity of the Unilever website is the responsibility of theDirectors; the work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration ofthese matters. Accordingly, the auditors accept no responsibility for any changesthat may have occurred to the fnancial statements since they were initiallyplaced on the website.Legislation in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands governing the preparationand dissemination of fnancial statements may differ from legislation in otherjurisdictions.Except where you are a shareholder, this material is provided for informationpurposes only and is not, in particular, intended to confer any legal rights on you.This Annual Report and Accounts does not constitute an invitation to invest inUnilever shares. Any decisions you make in reliance on this information are solelyyour responsibility.The information is given as of the dates specifed, is not updated, and anyforward-looking statements are made subject to the reservations specifedin the cautionary statement on the inside back cover of this PDF.Unilever accepts no responsibility for any information on other websitesthat may be accessed from this site by hyperlinks.
MAKINGSUSTAINABLE LIVINGCOMMONPLACEUNILEVER ANNUAL REPORTAND ACCOUNTS 2017
UNILEVER ANNUAL REPORTAND ACCOUNTS 2017CONTENTSThis document is made up of the Strategic Report, the GovernanceReport, the Financial Statements and Notes, and AdditionalInformation for US Listing Purposes.About us.1The Unilever Group consists of Unilever N.V. (NV) and Unilever PLC(PLC) together with the companies they control. The terms “Unilever”,the “Group”, “we”, “our” and “us” refer to the Unilever Group.Chief Executive Officer’s review .4Our Strategic Report, pages 1 to 33, contains information aboutus, how we create value and how we run our business. It includesour strategy, business model, market outlook and key performanceindicators, as well as our approach to sustainability and risk. TheStrategic Report is only part of the Annual Report and Accounts2017. The Strategic Report has been approved by the Boards andsigned on their behalf by Ritva Sotamaa – Group Secretary.Our Governance Report, pages 34 to 76 contains detailedcorporate governance information, our Committee reportsand how we remunerate our Directors.Strategic Report .1Chairman’s statement .2Board of Directors.3Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) .5Our performance.6Financial performance .6Unilever Sustainable Living Plan .7A changing world .8Our value creation model .9Our strategy.10Delivering long-term value for our stakeholders .11Our consumers .11Society and environment .13Our Financial Statements and Notes are on pages 77 to 155.Sustainable Development Goals .15Pages 1 to 157 constitute the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts2017 for UK and Dutch purposes, which we may also refer to as‘this Annual Report and Accounts’ throughout this document.Our people.16The Directors’ Report of PLC on pages 34 to 46, 77 (Statementof Directors’ responsibilities), 108 (Dividends on ordinary capital),121 to 126 (Treasury Risk Management), 145 (branch disclosure)and 151 and 155 (Post balance sheet event) has been approvedby the PLC Board and signed on its behalf by Ritva Sotamaa –Group Secretary.Financial Review .19The Strategic Report, together with the Governance Report,constitutes the report of the Directors within the meaning ofSection 2:391 of the Dutch Civil Code and has been approvedby the NV Board and signed on its behalf by Ritva Sotamaa –Group Secretary.Pages 158 to 179 are included as Additional Information forUS Listing Purposes.ONLINEYou can find more information about Unilever online atwww.unilever.comFor further information on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan(USLP) visitwww.unilever.com/sustainable-livingThe Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2017(and the Additional Information for US Listing Purposes)along with other relevant documents can be downloaded atwww.unilever.com/ara2017/downloadsOur partners.17Our shareholders.18Risks .26Governance Report.34Corporate Governance.34Report of the Audit Committee .41Report of the Corporate Responsibility Committee .43Report of the Nominating andCorporate Governance Committee .45Directors’ Remuneration Report .47Financial Statements.77Statement of Directors’ responsibilities.77Independent auditors’ reports .78Consolidated financial statements .86Consolidated income statement .86Consolidated statement of comprehensive income.86Consolidated statement of changes in equity .87Consolidated balance sheet .88Consolidated cash flow statement.89Notes to the consolidated financial statements.90Company accounts – Unilever N.V. .146Notes to the Company accounts – Unilever N.V.148Company accounts – Unilever PLC.152Notes to the Company accounts – Unilever PLC .153Shareholder Information .156Index .157Additional Information for US Listing Purposes .158
ABOUT USAT A GLANCEOUR PURPOSEUNILEVER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING CONSUMERGOODS COMPANIES, MAKING AND SELLING AROUND 400BRANDS IN MORE THAN 190 COUNTRIES.UNILEVER HAS A CLEAR PURPOSE – TO MAKE SUSTAINABLELIVING COMMONPLACE. WE BELIEVE THIS IS THE BEST WAYTO DELIVER LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE GROWTH.Every day, 2.5 billion people use our products to feel good, look goodand get more out of life. Our range of world-leading, household-namebrands includes Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann’s and Omo. Thirteenof the world’s top 50 brands are owned by Unilever, up from twelve theprevious year, with our nearest competitor owning just five, accordingto Kantar’s brand footprint report in May 2017.As the pace of change accelerates in our markets, we are creatinga stronger, simpler and more agile business. These changes willhelp us to deliver our Purpose and our Vision to grow our business,whilst decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth andincreasing our positive social impact.In 2017 we had 13 billion euro brands. In addition our portfolio alsoincludes trusted and iconic local brands designed to meet the specificneeds of consumers in their home market such as Bangoin Indonesia, Pureit in India and Suave in the United States. Ourgeographic reach gives us an unparalleled global presence,including a unique position in emerging markets which generate58% of our turnover.During 2017, Unilever operated across four categories. The largestwas Personal Care, followed by Foods, Home Care and Refreshment.Each one is discussed in more detail on pages 11 and 12. In April 2017,we announced our intention to combine our Foods and Refreshmentcategories (which took effect on 1 January 2018) and the divestment ofour Spreads business, which we expect to complete in mid-2018 aftera 6.825 billion offer from KKR in December 2017. These changeswill accelerate our strategy of long-term, sustainable shareholdervalue creation. In this Annual Report and Accounts, we report theperformance of Foods and Refreshment separately because theywere separate categories for the reporting period. They will bereported together from 2018 onwards.Our business activities span a complex global value chain. See page 9for more details. At the heart of our business is a workforce of 161,000people who are driven by our Purpose and empowered to excel in ourfast-changing markets. Unilever’s Code of Business Principles (theCode), and the 24 policies that support it (Code Policies), set out thestandards required from all our employees. The Code Policies covera number of areas, including countering corruption (eg anti-bribery),respecting people (eg respect, dignity and fair treatment) andsafeguarding information. Together, the Code and Code Policieshelp us put our values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility andPioneering into practice. See page 16 for more on our Code andCode Policies.Our employees are supported by a management team with representativesfrom around 90 countries. In emerging markets, more than 70% of ourcountry leadership teams are local. It is this combination of globalstrength and deep local expertise which lies at the heart of oursuccess in developing strong, consumer-relevant innovation.To harness these global and local advantages we have changed theway we are organised. Central to this strategy is the acceleratedimplementation of Connected 4 Growth (C4G), the largest changeprogramme Unilever has undergone in the last ten years to createa faster, simpler organisation. Our new C4G organisation is now fullyoperational. We expect the benefits of C4G to be realised progressivelyduring 2018 and 2019. C4G’s strategic role is explained in more detailon page 10.A further change to make Unilever a simpler and more flexiblebusiness has been a review by the Boards of our dual-headed legalstructure. The review by the Boards is continuing and the outcomewill be announced in due course.Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2017However volatile and uncertain the world becomes, Unilever’s Purposeand Vision will remain because we believe that managing for thelong term is the best way for us to grow. We are well placed to deliverlong-term value through our strategy, category strategies and theUnilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), launched in 2010. These aresupported by a transformational change agenda which combines ourown actions with a stakeholder approach to external advocacy andpublic policy. Our scale and reach mean we are well placed to capturethe economic opportunities presented by the United NationsSustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Find out more about how weare creating value from the SDGs on page 15.The USLP is a value driver in its own right. Our commitment to theUSLP’s three big goals of improving health and well-being for morethan 1 billion people by 2020, halving our environmental footprintby 2030, and enhancing livelihoods for millions by 2020 has deliveredgrowth for the business. In 2016, 18 of our top 40 brands qualified asSustainable Living brands, growing 50% faster than the rest of thebusiness, while delivering more than 60% of Unilever’s growth. Theirsuccess is driven by the growing consumer demand for brands thathave purpose at their core. Our 2017 Sustainable Living brands will beannounced in May 2018 once the analysis is complete. Find out moreabout our Sustainable Living brands on pages 11 to 13.The USLP also delivers lower costs through reduced waste, energyand packaging. It lowers risks in our supply chain by securing asustainable supply of critical raw materials such as palm oil andtea. And it also increases trust in our business - particularly amongconsumers, employees, investors and governments.We work in partnership with governments and other organisations todrive transformational change across society with initiatives to helprealise the SDGs. These are themselves opportunities to grow ourbusiness by addressing unmet challenges while alleviating majorsocial and environmental issues, such as climate change anddeforestation, creating more opportunities for women and enhancinglivelihoods, promoting health and well-being and championingsustainable agriculture and food security.Our track record over the past eight years proves our multi-stakeholdermodel of long-term, compounding, sustainable gr
help us to deliver our Purpose and our Vision to grow our business, whilst decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth and increasing our positive social impact. However volatile and uncertain the world becomes, Unilever’s Purpose and Vision will remain because we believe that managing for the long term is the best way for us to grow. We are well placed to deliver
