This setback clouds an otherwise 2025 much like the previous financial year, even if revenue was only kept flat thanks to price increases.
The group behind the eponymous ice cream brand, Wall's, Cornetto and Ben & Jerry's, amongst others, posted lower profitability and weaker organic growth prospects than Unilever's other segments.
The ice cream business actually recorded an annualised growth rate of under 4% over the past decade.
That said, Magnum is the undisputed market leader in almost every country where it is present - apart from in China and India - with market shares that are well ahead of its closest challengers.
The group has also embarked on a highly ambitious restructuring program aimed at enabling it to reach between $1bn and $1.2bn in cash profit - or free cash flow - by 2028 or 2029.
In 2025, it is an adjusted free cash flow - before changes in scope, the impact of the restructuring program and the costs of the separation from Unilever - of €600m that investors must settle for, or $700m at the average exchange rate, roughly the same as in 2024.
This current and prospective earning power should be set against a market capitalisation of $10bn, and a targeted financial leverage expected between 2x and 2.5x EBITDA.
