Jakarta. Fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever Indonesia (UNVR) reported a net profit of Rp 2.8 trillion in the first of 2023, dropping by 19.5 percent year-on-year due to a slowdown in household spending and the closure of several B2B online trading operators last year.

However, the unaudited financial results indicated a strong gross margin of 50.5 percent in the second quarter, the highest in the last eight quarters.

Unilever Indonesia CEO Ira Noviarti said in a recent interview that the company's financial performance has shown a strong recovery in the second quarter reflected in the before-tax profit and the profit per share figures as a result of a series of measures to optimize factory output, distribution, logistics, and promotion programs supported by improving commodity prices.

She said the inflation and increasing living costs will continue to have an impact on consumers' shopping habits for the next quarters.

“Regardless of the current slowdown in household spending, we remain confident about the long-term prospect of fast-moving consumer goods markets in Indonesia. We will continue to adapt ourselves to ensure that our business is always competitive,” Ira said.

“We have been making price interventions for the past four quarters to make sure that our brands hold strong competitiveness and despite this, we managed to protect the margin,” she said.

Unilever has increased its market share in main product segments such as oral care, skin cleansing, soy sauce, soup stock, dish wash and fabric cleaning, Ira said without providing numbers.

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