Schumacher's sudden departure after less than two years in the job hit Unilever's shares, which fell 2% early on Tuesday. They had gained more than 9% since Schumacher took the helm.
Unilever, which gave no specific reason for the change, is facing pressure from investors to revitalise its fortunes and the top management upheaval comes just weeks after Unilever announced underwhelming full-year earnings.
"While the Board is pleased with Unilever's performance in 2024, there is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results," Chairman Ian Meakins said in a statement.
Schumacher reset the group's strategy to address years of underperformance and laid out cost cuts last year, including separating its ice cream division and cutting thousands of jobs.
But Meakins said the Board was impressed by Fernandez's decisive and results-oriented approach", and had given him the task of executing the growth strategy.
Fernandez, 58, has been with Unilever since 1988. Before he became CFO last year, he held a number of roles such as President Latin America and CEO Brazil.
"Difficult to see this any other way as a negative, as growth was slowing recently, and the market will worry that more disappointing news may come," said Tineke Frikkee, a portfolio manager at Waverton Investment Management, a Unilever investor.
"On the other hand, it does show that the Unilever Board is decisive when corrective action is deemed necessary."
Unilever, which owns Hellmann's mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, said there was no change to its 2025 outlook or medium-term forecast and that the board was committed to "further accelerating" Schumacher's growth plan.
"We are gobsmacked at the news that Unilever's very highly regarded CEO Hein Schumacher is to step down after a very successful 18 months in charge," RBC Capital analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note.
Jones said he did not think one set of "slightly wayward" results would warrant his departure.
Schumacher, who joined in July 2023, will step down as CEO in March and leave the company on May 31. He is leaving by mutual agreement, the company said.
"We have made real progress and I am proud of what we have achieved in a short period of time," Schumacher said in a statement.
Schumacher, 53, will be treated as a "good leaver" and will continue to get his 1.85 million euros ($1.94 million) fixed pay until he leaves the business, the company said. He will then get an undisclosed payment for the remainder of this notice period, it said.
Srinivas Phatak, currently Unilever's deputy chief financial officer and group controller, will become acting CFO, while the company looks for a permanent replacement.
($1 = 0.9549 euros)
