IHG, Unilever sign deal for bathroom products: Good time to buy stocks?

June 20, 2022 02:34 PM BST | By Abhishek Sharma
Follow us on Google News:

Highlights

  • IHG Hotels and Resorts has signed a deal with British FMCG major Unilever for full-sized bathroom products.
  • The Holiday Inn owner will replace miniature products with full-sized ones to minimise single-use plastics in over 4,000 hotels.

Plastic pollution has become a major concern across the world. Companies have been trying new innovations to switch to more environmental-friendly ways to carry out their day-to-day activities. With a similar aim in sight, IHG Hotels & Resorts (LON: IHG), a London-listed company that operates several hotel chains in multiple countries, has joined hands with British consumer goods manufacturer Unilever (LON: ULVR) for the supply of full-sized bathroom products like hand wash, body wash, shampoos, conditioners, and other products.

In a statement, IHG Hotels & Resorts announced that it would replace the bathroom miniatures with bulk amenities in over 4,000 of its hotels. These bulk amenities are basically larger bottles or dispensers with a capacity of at least 250ml. They will not be replaced after each guest's stay, the company said.

The deal is a part of IHG's 2019 commitment to removing bathroom miniatures from all its hotels and replacing them with bigger-sized amenities. The company aims to eliminate single-use items throughout the guest stay by 2030, the statement read.

IHG Hotels and Resorts aim to eliminate single-use items throughout the guest stay by 2030.

© 2022 Kalkine Media®

Details of the deal

Under the deal, Unilever's largest brand Dove will supply full-sized bathroom products, including shampoo, body wash, hand wash, conditioner, and body lotion, to IHG's mainstream brands like IHG Essentials and Suites Collection hotels. These chains account for about 80% of the company's portfolio.

The switch is expected to save a minimum of 850 tonnes of plastic annually in the company's Americas region alone, it said.

Last year, IHG made a similar announcement for its InterContinental Hotels & Resorts properties when it joined hands with European luxury brand Byredo for full-sized products.

Share price performance of IHG hotels

Following the announcement, the share price of the hospitality firm moved slightly upwards. As of 12:31 pm GMT+1 on Monday, the shares were trading at GBX 4,293.00, up by 0.98%. The company is listed on the blue-chip FTSE 100 index and holds a market cap of £7,824.37 million. Over the past one year, the share value has depreciated by over 15%, while the year-to-date returns stand at -10.33%.

Share price performance of Unilever

Unilever is among the world's biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and is also listed on the FTSE 100 index. Among Unilever's major brands are Dove, Sunsilk, Axe, Ben & Jerry's, etc. The company posted a 7.3% increase in underlying sales and an 11.8% increase in turnover in Q1 2022, in contrast with Q1 2021.

Shares of Unilever were trading at GBX 3,585.50, down by 0.21% as of 12:35 pm GMT+1 on 20 June 2022, with a market cap of £91,682.96 million. The shares haven't performed particularly well in the past one year and have fallen by almost 17%. The year-to-date return currently stands at -9.23%.

Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.


Disclaimer

The content, including but not limited to any articles, news, quotes, information, data, text, reports, ratings, opinions, images, photos, graphics, graphs, charts, animations and video (Content) is a service of Kalkine Media Limited, Company No. 12643132 (Kalkine Media, we or us) and is available for personal and non-commercial use only. Kalkine Media is an appointed representative of Kalkine Limited, who is authorized and regulated by the FCA (FRN: 579414). The non-personalised advice given by Kalkine Media through its Content does not in any way endorse or recommend individuals, investment products or services suitable for your personal financial situation. You should discuss your portfolios and the risk tolerance level appropriate for your personal financial situation, with a qualified financial planner and/or adviser. No liability is accepted by Kalkine Media or Kalkine Limited and/or any of its employees/officers, for any investment loss, or any other loss or detriment experienced by you for any investment decision, whether consequent to, or in any way related to this Content, the provision of which is a regulated activity. Kalkine Media does not intend to exclude any liability which is not permitted to be excluded under applicable law or regulation. Some of the Content on this website may be sponsored/non-sponsored, as applicable. However, on the date of publication of any such Content, none of the employees and/or associates of Kalkine Media hold positions in any of the stocks covered by Kalkine Media through its Content. The views expressed in the Content by the guests, if any, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kalkine Media. Some of the images/music/video that may be used in the Content are copyright to their respective owner(s). Kalkine Media does not claim ownership of any of the pictures displayed/music or video used in the Content unless stated otherwise. The images/music/video that may be used in the Content are taken from various sources on the internet, including paid subscriptions or are believed to be in public domain. We have used reasonable efforts to accredit the source wherever it was indicated or was found to be necessary.



Top LSE Listed Companies