Unilever appoints acting CFO Phatak in permanent role
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 16 Sep 2025
(Sharecast News) - FMCG giant Unilever has announced that acting finance lead Srinivas Phatak has been appointed as its permanent chief financial officer, having "performed strongly" since stepping in over the past seven months.
After a thorough internal and external search process, the board "unanimously" agreed that Phatak was the best candidate for the role, and that he would be appointed effective immediately.
Phatak, who had been the deputy CFO since 2022, became acting CFO in February when then-CFO Fernando Fernandez was appointed to replace Hein Schumacher.
Schumacher, who had been at the helm for under two years, was ousted in a surprise move as the company looked to speed up its turnaround plans.
"Srinivas has been a great partner over the last six months as acting CFO and over many years as part of the Unilever leadership team," Fernandez said in a statement on Tuesday.
"He brings financial rigour, strategic clarity, and a sharp eye for value creation. His leadership and constructive challenge will be very valuable in driving consistent volume growth, margin expansion, and advancing our growth story. I'm confident that, together with the team, we can build a scalable marketing and sales engine that delivers executional excellence across all channels."
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