Schumacher defended his approach and record as CEO and said he regretted leaving Unilever earlier than anticipated.

Unilever stunned investors on Tuesday by moving to replace chief executive Hein Schumacher with finance chief Fernando Fernandez, who will take on the tough task of reviving the consumer group's performance.

In a shock move, Unilever has ousted chief executive Hein Schumacher and will replace him with chief financial officer Fernando Fernandez, who will focus on speeding up the execution of the consumer group's turnaround