Banks close to Unilever, the quoted consumer goods manufacturer, will be rubbing their hands in fee anticipation, after the company commited to selling bonds worth as much as €5bn ($4.2bn) every year for the next three years.

Jan Haars, Unilever's treasurer, said the firm would issue between €4bn and €5bn annually until 2002 as it seeks to refinance existing debt. From 2004, Unilever will then cut back its issuance programme to between €2bn and €3bn each year in a bid to cut borrowings.