Unilever Gain Shows Polman Will Be a Hard Act to Follow: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- Unilever shareholders may have been irked by the company’s abandoned plan to consolidate its headquarters in the Netherlands, but they can have no complaint at the stock’s performance under outgoing Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman. A 184 percent gain since Polman began his tenure in 2009 is comfortably ahead of rival Nestle SA’s 104 percent advance in the same period. His successor Alan Jope has a hard act to follow, but “is a high quality internal candidate who should be capable of continuing on with Polman’s good work,” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Andrew Wood wrote in a note.

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