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Unilever to benefit from oil price drop

Publicly listed consumer goods giant PT Unilever Indonesia (UNVR) is forecast to benefit from the global oil price slump despite the royalty payment increase to its parent company and weakened purchasing power in the country this year

Khoirul Amin (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, April 10, 2015

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Unilever to benefit from oil price drop

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ublicly listed consumer goods giant PT Unilever Indonesia (UNVR) is forecast to benefit from the global oil price slump despite the royalty payment increase to its parent company and weakened purchasing power in the country this year.

Harry Su, an analyst with Bahana Securities, said on Thursday that the global oil price slump would help the firm compensate for possible rising costs this year.

'€œMost of the firm'€™s products, from packages to milk products, are sourced from oil-related materials,'€ he said.

Global oil prices have dropped significantly since June last year to around US$50 per barrel this year from the highest level of more than $100 per barrel in 2010.

Harry said that UNVR'€™s rising average selling price would also help the firm offset a possible sales decline due to the country'€™s relatively unexciting economic growth outlook, resulting in weaker consumer purchasing power.

As of March, the country'€™s consumer confidence index stood at 154.1 points, lower than an average of 156.2 points for the whole of last year, according to ANZ-Roy Morgan.

'€œUnilever raised its product prices by 1 percent as of March this year. The firm'€™s average selling price was also already raised by an average of 8 percent last year,'€ Harry told The Jakarta Post, adding that it would compensate for a possible decline in the firms'€™ sales volume this year.

Desmon Silitonga, an analyst with Millenium Danatama Indonesia, meanwhile, estimated that UNVR would grow in a relatively moderate phase of 12 percent and 5 percent in its revenues and net profit, respectively, this year.

'€œThe company'€™s growth will likely be squeezed by possible expense hikes, such as a royalty payment hike to 7.2 percent, salary increase and the weakening of rupiah,'€ he told the Post.

As of this year, UNVR is set to submit around 8 percent of its earnings as a form of royalty payment to utilize trademark, technology and services owned by its parent company, Unilever NV and Plc., UNVR'€™s audited financial report has shown.

UNVR'€™s royalty payment has gradually increased over the last two years, from a maximum of 5 percent in 2013 to a maximum of 8 percent in 2015 onward.

Last year alone, the royalty payment consisted of 1 percent for trademark license, 1.5 percent for technology license and a maximum of 3 percent for service central agreement with Unilever NV and Plc.

Under its financial report, UNVR included royalty payment as part of its general and administrative expenses.

Royalty payment hit Rp 1.93 trillion (US$149.7 million) or 71.5 percent of the firm'€™s total general and administrative expenses amounting to Rp 2.7 trillion last year, an increase from Rp 1.38 trillion or 68.23 percent of general and administrative expenses in 2013.

UNVR saw its net profit increase by only 7.3 percent to Rp 5.74 trillion last year from Rp 5.35 trillion in 2013. The growth is lower compared to 10.53 percent growth in net profit from 2012 to 2013.

UNVR'€™s shares increased by 1.68 percent to Rp 39,350 at Thursday'€™s close from Rp 38,700 the previous day.

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