Unilever Stock Bucks FTSE Selloff as World Cup Bet Meets a Cost Test
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Unilever edges higher, stock now 9% above average buyback price

June 25, 2026
by

LONDON, June 25, 2026, 12:10 BST

  • Unilever gained 1.1% to 4,592.5 pence, moving faster than the FTSE 100.
  • The finished €1.5 billion buyback points to an average price of €48.85 per share.
  • McCormick topped profit forecasts for the quarter and said progress continued on its planned Unilever Foods deal.

Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR) gained 1.1% to 4,592.5 pence at 11:58 BST on Thursday. The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) added roughly 0.4%.

The gain gives another look at when Unilever finished its €1.5 billion share buyback. Unilever picked up 30,703,780 shares, paying a market value of €1,499,999,891. The buyback ran from April 30 to June 5 and aimed to cut capital.

The numbers suggest Unilever paid an average of €48.85 per share. On Thursday, Amsterdam-listed shares closed at €53.33, which is 9.2% higher. Picking up the same amount of stock now would run €1.637 billion, or about €137 million extra.

Unilever’s €137 million is not booked as an accounting gain, since those shares went for a capital reduction. The sum is a timing figure. The buyback covered roughly 1.4% of Unilever’s 2.15 billion shares outstanding.

McCormick & Company (NYSE:MKC) offered a fresh look at the Foods deal in its latest report. The spice maker posted second-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion, beating the $1.91 billion LSEG estimate. Adjusted earnings were 80 cents a share, ahead of the 69-cent forecast.

McCormick CEO Brendan Foley said the company is moving ahead with integration planning for the proposed deal with Unilever Foods.

Unilever shareholders will get 55.1% of the merged company, and Unilever itself keeps a 9.9% stake. Unilever gets $15.7 billion in cash for its Foods unit, which the deal prices at $44.8 billion. CEO Fernando Fernandez said the deal is “unlocking trapped value through a growth-led separation of Foods.” Unilever

Unilever’s first-quarter underlying sales gained 3.8%, with volume up 2.9%. Turnover dropped 3.3% to €12.6 billion as currency moves took away the sales increase. The company stuck with its 2026 outlook, guiding for sales growth at the low end of its 4%–6% range.

Unilever said it plans to pay out a £0.4046 first-quarter dividend on June 26. Second-quarter and half-year numbers drop July 28.

Marcin Frąckiewicz

Marcin Frąckiewicz is the CEO of TS2 Space and a longtime technology entrepreneur focused on telecommunications, satellite communications and digital innovation. A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), he writes about space technology, artificial intelligence and publicly traded technology companies. His analysis covers major market trends, emerging technologies and the businesses shaping the future of the global economy.

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