Ian Meakins, chairman of Unilever, said Hein had 'put Unilever on a path to higher performance and the board is committed to accelerating its execution.'.
Unilever reported last week that its annual turnover increased by 1.9 per cent to €60.8billion last year on the back of strong underlying growth across all segments.
Unilever told investors Hein Schumacher will step down as chief executive on 1 March, before departing the FTSE 100 firm for good at the end of May.
His promotion to the top job follows continued pressure from Unilever's investors to improve the company's performance and a warning last week that near-term market conditions were set to remain subdued.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said Fernandez's 'deep experience and a clear mandate to push change with urgency signal a bold move to accelerate the final stretch of Unilever's turnaround'.
