Chief executive Hein Schumacher said in the earnings statement that “competitiveness remains disappointing and overall performance needs to improve” at the group whose products include Magnum ice cream, Cif surface cleaner and Dove soap.

Group revenue dipped 0.8% to €59.6 billion last year compared with 2022.

Businesses and consumers worldwide continue to battle higher costs as inflation remains stubbornly high, especially in the UK.

Schumacher became Unilever CEO last year, replacing Alan Jope who had come under fierce pressure from activist investors.

Jope had led Unilever’s failed US$50-billion bid for the former healthcare unit of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

Schumacher, the former head of Dutch dairy and nutrition firm Royal FrieslandCampina, launched in October an action plan to grow Unilever.

“The new leadership team has embedded the action plan at pace,” he added in Thursday’s results statement.

“We are at the early stages of this work and there is much to do but we are moving with speed and urgency to transform Unilever into a consistently higher performing business,” he added.