By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
U.K. stocks fell Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 backing
away from a record high, but Dove soap maker Unilever PLC and
brewer SABMiller PLC advanced after releasing financial
updates.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,076.61, slipping from Wednesday's closing high at 7,096.78.
Moving in the red was Diageo , with shares down 3.1% after the
Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky maker said organic
net sales fell 0.3%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/diageo-9-month-organic-sales-fall-2015-04-16)
in the nine months ended March 31.
But Unilever PLC shares climbed to the top of the benchmark,
gaining 4%. Sales at the consumer-products heavyweight jumped 12%
in the first quarter
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unilever-sales-lifted-by-favorable-forex-movements-2015-04-16).
Underlying sales grew 2.8%.
"Despite high levels of currency and commodity volatility, we
are now starting to see more tailwinds than headwinds in our
markets, and expect our initiatives to deliver a further
improvement in volume growth in the remainder of the year," said
Unilever's Chief Executive Paul Polman in a statement.
SABMiller rose 1.8%, after the brewer posted organic growth in
revenue of 6% in the fourth quarter. But the maker of Fosters,
Miller and Peroni said depreciation of key currencies against the
dollar (GBPUSD) also dented its results.
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