London, Feb 25, 2026, 09:07 GMT — Regular session
- Unilever dipped 0.3% at the open, staying close to its latest peak.
- Unilever shares go ex-dividend on Thursday, drawing short-term attention from income-focused funds.
- UK markets are showing nerves, with investors eyeing tariffs and potential rate cuts.
Unilever edged down 16 pence to 5,456 pence at the open in London, off 0.3% from Tuesday’s 5,472 pence close. Shares changed hands in a tight 5,438-to-5,491 pence range, still hovering close to their 52-week peak.
Timing’s key here—Unilever goes ex-dividend on Feb. 26. After that date, anyone picking up shares won’t get the coming payout. That ex-dividend line often tweaks demand, can send prices moving right at the cutoff.
Unilever has set Feb. 27 as the record date for its Q4 2025 dividend, with payment scheduled for April 10.
Traders get choppy price moves out of this setup. Certain investors stay put for the dividend; others shift elsewhere. The share price typically drops by about the dividend amount on the ex-dividend day.
Dividend dates aside, the company’s 2026 goals remain front and center for investors. CEO Fernando Fernandez, in the full-year 2025 update, pointed to “moving at speed” with execution and tighter cost control. For 2026, Unilever set expectations: growth is pegged to the lower bound of its range, with only slight margin gains on the table. Unilever
Not much relief in the broader backdrop. The FTSE 100 closed basically unchanged Tuesday, with tariff jitters sticking around and sectors tugging in different directions. Defensives like consumer staples struggled to find any real momentum.
Sterling is trading close to a one-month low, with traders watching for comments from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, Reuters reported. Fluctuations in the currency hit Unilever, as the company books its results in euros but draws much of its revenue from overseas markets.
One risk here: investors might see the dividend as a cue to cash out, not double down—especially if worries surface around consumer demand or pricing. Barclays analysts, quoted by Reuters earlier this month, dubbed 2026 “the acid test” for Unilever’s strategy. Reuters
Thursday brings the ex-dividend date, quickly followed by Unilever’s Q1 2026 trading statement set for April 30. The company also intends to release a pre-close aide-mémoire just before the update.
