Jefferies says Unilever risks investors feeling story ‘hitting uninspiring wall’

After Unilever announced this morning plans to separate its ice cream unit and outlined a new EUR 800M gross cost saving program to be executed the next three years, Jefferies noted that the news was coupled with an augmented ambition for sales growth of 4%-6% per year versus a prior target of 3%-5%. The “key to the net value creation of the announcement” is the one point higher ambition for long term sales growth per year, contends the analyst, who voices the concern that investors “may feel the story is hitting an uninspiring wall,” and adds that “patience running thin could risk a Trian exit and/or a stalled share price.” The firm keeps a 3,400 GBp price target and Underperform rating on Unilever shares.