Magnum Stock Plummets: Ice Cream Sales Decline & Obesity Drug Link

Magnum Ice Cream, the company that owns ice cream brands such as Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s and Cornetto, has published its first financial statements after splitting from Unilever in 2025 and listing on Euronext Amsterdam. 2025 ended with 7.9 billion euros in revenues, unchanged compared to 2024, and sales growing by 4.2% compared to 2.8% the previous year. The annual net profit, however, suffered a decline of 48%, stopping at 307 million euros, due to the separation and restructuring costs resulting from the demerger. While operating profit fell by 21% to 599 million euros.

The stock drops on the stock market

The company’s stock is under pressure on the Euronext Amsterdam list on Thursday 12 February, after the publication of the results: Magnum Ice Cream at the end of the morning it was down 14.65%. “The shares go up and down,” commented the CEO Peter ter Kulveduring a call with journalists, highlighting that the separation from Unilever has made it more difficult to read the group’s results. “Overall, we are very pleased with the price performance of Magnum shares,” he added.

The Ozempic boom and declining demand

Sales in the fourth quarter were lower than expected, with volumes down 3%. While analysts had expected growth of 0.5%. Results that fuel the fear that this is not just a temporary decline. The ice cream sector and, in general, sweet snacks is going through a phase of uncertainty with the boom in anti-obesity drugsGLP-1 agonists, such asOzempicwhich are changing consumer tastes, especially in the United States. Drugs which, as Stefano Erzegovesi, Nutritionist and Psychiatrist, explained to Silvia Turin on Courierthey change “the way of thinking about food and satisfying oneself with food”.

Analysts’ fears

Jefferies analyst David Hayes told the Financial Times that Magnum’s financial results “rekindle concerns” about the structural risks of anti-obesity drugs to the ice cream category. A risk that the group’s CEO Peter ter Kulve downplayed by claiming that the decline in sales of traditional ice creams can be compensated by other options present in the group’s portfolio, such as low-calorie and high-protein ice creams, as well as versions with controlled portions, such as Magnum Bonbons.