XML 187 R37.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.20.4

Operating costs and non-underlying items (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2020
Text Block [Abstract] |
Gross Profit and Operating Cost |
|  | € million |  |  | € million |  |  | € million |
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Turnover |  |  | 50,724 |  |  |  | 51,980 |  |  |  | 50,982 |
Cost of sales |  |  | (28,684 | ) |  |  | (29,102 | ) |  |  | (28,703 | )
of which: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Distribution costs |  |  | (3,104 | ) |  |  | (3,089 | ) |  |  | (3,057 | )
Production costs |  |  | (3,696 | ) |  |  | (3,701 | ) |  |  | (3,732 | )
Raw and packaging materials and goods purchased for resale |  |  | (20,400 | ) |  |  | (20,769 | ) |  |  | (20,516 | )
Other |  |  | (1,484 | ) |  |  | (1,543 | ) |  |  | (1,398 | )
Gross profit |  |  | 22,040 |  |  |  | 22,878 |  |  |  | 22,279 |
Selling and administrative expenses |  |  | (12,673 | ) |  |  | (12,931 | ) |  |  | (12,816 | )
of which: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Brand and marketing investment |  |  | (7,091 | ) |  |  | (7,272 | ) |  |  | (7,150 | )
Overheads |  |  | (5,582 | ) |  |  | (5,659 | ) |  |  | (5,666 | )
of which: Research and development |  |  | (800 | ) |  |  | (840 | ) |  |  | (900 | )
Non-underlying items within operating profit before tax |  |  | (1,064 | ) |  |  | (1,239 | ) |  |  | 3,176 |
Operating profit |  |  | 8,303 |  |  |  | 8,708 |  |  |  | 12,639 |
Non-underlying Items |
|  | € million |  |  | € million |  |  | € million |
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Non-underlying items within operating profit before tax |  |  | (1,064 | ) |  |  | (1,239 | ) |  |  | 3176 |
Acquisition and disposal-related costs |  |  | (69 | ) |  |  | (132 | ) |  |  | 76 |
Gain on disposal of group companies (a) |  |  | 8 |  |  |  | 70 |  |  |  | 4,331 |
Restructuring costs (b) |  |  | (916 | ) |  |  | (1,159 | ) |  |  | (914 | )
Impairments (c) |  |  | — |  |  |  | (18 | ) |  |  | (208 | )
Other (d) |  |  | (87 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | (109 | )
Tax on non-underlying items within operating profit |  |  | 272 |  |  |  | 309 |  |  |  | (259 | )
Non-underlying items within operating profit after tax |  |  | (792 | ) |  |  | (930 | ) |  |  | 2,917 |
Non-underlying items not in operating profit but within net profit before tax |  |  | (36 | ) |  |  | 35 |  |  |  | 154 |
Share of gain on disposal of Spreads business in Portugal JV |  |  | — |  |  |  | 3 |  |  |  | 32 |
Interest related to the UK tax audit of intangible income and centralised services |  |  | (56 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Net monetary gain arising from hyperinflationary economies |  |  | 20 |  |  |  | 32 |  |  |  | 122 |
Tax impact of non-underlying items not in operating profit but within net profit |  |  | (146 | ) |  |  | (196 | ) |  |  | (29 | )
Impact of US tax reform |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (29 | )
Taxes related to the reorganisation of our European business |  |  | (58 | ) |  |  | (175 | ) |  |  | — |
Taxes related to share buyback as part of Unification |  |  | (30 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Taxes related to the UK tax audit of intangible income and centralised services |  |  | (53 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Hyperinflation adjustment for Argentina deferred tax |  |  | (5 | ) |  |  | (21 | ) |  |  | — |
Non-underlying items not in operating profit but within net profit after tax |  |  | (182 | ) |  |  | (161 | ) |  |  | 125 |
Non-underlying items after tax (e) |  |  | (974 | ) |  |  | (1,091 | ) |  |  | 3,042 |
Attributable to: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Non-controlling interest |  |  | (23 | ) |  |  | (28 | ) |  |  | 18 |
Shareholders’ equity |  |  | (951 | ) |  |  | (1,063 | ) |  |  | 3,024 |
(a) | 2020 gain relates to a laundry bar business disposal. 2019 includes a gain of €57 million relating to the disposal of Alsa. 2018 includes a gain of €4,331 million on disposal of spreads business.
(b) | Restructuring costs are comprised of various supply chain optimisation projects and organisational change programmes across markets.
(c) | 2019 includes a charge of €18 million relating to an impairment of goodwill for a local business classified to held for sale.
(d) | 2020 includes a charge of €87 million for litigation matters in relation to investigations by national competition authorities.
(e) | Non-underlying items after tax is calculated as non-underlying items within operating profit after tax plus non-underlying items not in operating profit but within net profit after tax.

X
- Definition The disclosure of gross profit and operating cost. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ul_DisclosureOfGrossProfitAndOperatingCostExplanatory
Namespace Prefix: | ul_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Disclosure of summary of non underlying items. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ul_DisclosureOfSummaryOfNonUnderlyingItemsExplanatory
Namespace Prefix: | ul_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Text block [abstract] + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ul_TextBlockAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | ul_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration