Hein Schumacher, the new CEO of Unilever (ULVR.L), unveiled long-awaited proposals on Thursday to streamline the company after acknowledging that it had underperformed in previous years. Nevertheless, the company’s shares dropped as a result of dissatisfied investors.

The manufacturer of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap failed to win back some customers who switched to less expensive products during a crisis in the cost of living, even though third-quarter sales growth for the company exceeded market estimates.

After taking over in July, Schumacher announced that the firm will now concentrate on 30 major brands that make up 70% of its total sales. He stated that it will not make any significant or transformative acquisitions and will instead concentrate on increasing its gross margin.

“We have not performed to the level of our potential in recent years. Our productivity, profits, and growth quality have all fallen short of expectations, according to Schumacher.

In early trade, shares of Unilever dropped 2.5% to a year-low. Regarding this strategic update, Aviva portfolio manager Richard Saldanha stated, “I don’t think anything is new.” “Clearly, for investors, from my perspective, getting back to organic growth of 3-5% is key.”

Following a failed attempt to acquire GSK’s consumer healthcare division and the appointment of billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz to the board, Alan Jope had a challenging year as Unilever’s CEO. Schumacher succeeded him.

According to Waverton Investment Management portfolio manager Tineke Frikkee, the new approach is “well presented but overall underwhelming—investing and rewarding for higher growth with no significant portfolio restructuring.”

“This sounds similar to previous CEOs and will take time to be delivered,” she stated.

During an analyst call, Schumacher addressed some of the skepticism raised by the media, stating, “I do understand the questions from people saying, ‘Hey, we’ve heard this before, and what are the reasons to believe you are going to deliver on all of this?”

“We are able to change things…It’s ensuring that we are conscious of the things that require modification,” he said.

Granted, not every investor felt let down. Oberon Investments fund manager Jack Martin remarked, “I quite liked the action plan that was presented to generate meaningful growth over the coming years, but it appears I may have been in the minority.” “The strategy showed that management is cognizant of what shareholders want to see and has an awareness that they have underperformed recently.”

“TROUBLEFUL TRADE SETTLEMENT”

The epidemic increased the cost of everything from sunflower oil and shipping to packaging and power, which has caused the consumer products industry to suffer for more than two years.

According to a business consensus, Unilever reported an increase in underlying sales of 5.2%, which was in line with analysts’ average predictions.

In the third quarter, underlying volumes decreased by 0.6%, but the underlying price increased by 5.8%. Analyst expectations were expecting prices to grow faster than they did and for volumes to rise for the first time in almost two years. Volumes were down 10.7% in Europe.

Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly stated, “That is a feature of the inflation we’ve had in our nutrition and ice cream business. It’s the most difficult trade environment.” “We’ve not yet recovered all the inflation in Europe, and our European margins have come down and are quite significantly below the average of Unilever.”

Along with the announcement of the senior management shuffle, the company named Fernando Fernandez as its new chief financial officer. Fernandez is already the head of the beauty and wellbeing division.