Unilever 3Q Comparable Sales Rise 2.6%, Below Expectations
October 19 2017 - 2:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
Consumer goods giant Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN) reported Thursday a
2.6% rise in comparable sales for the third quarter of 2017, below
market expectations, as the company said its full-year and
strategic targets are on track.
The owner of brands including Dove, Hellmann's and Lipton said
its third-quarter turnover was 13.2 billion euros ($15.5 billion).
Profit figures for the period weren't disclosed.
Unilever's sales on an underlying basis--stripping out the
impact of acquisitions, disposals and exchange-rate changes--slowed
from its second-quarter growth of 3%. The company said the sales
rise was driven by emerging markets growth of 6.3%, in contrast
with a 2.3% decrease in developed markets. Volumes grew 0.2% and
prices were up 2.4%.
Unilever said overall market conditions remain challenging and,
despite seeing signs of improvement in emerging markets including
China and India, disruption from natural disasters in the Americas
and poorer weather in Europe adversely affected the third
quarter.
The Anglo-Dutch company also backed its full-year guidance of
3%-5% underlying sales growth and underlying margin improvement of
at least 100 basic points.
The consumer products group added that it is making good
progress towards its strategic targets. Plans for the integration
of foods and refreshments into a single business are advancing
well, and preparations for an exit from the spreads business via a
sale or demerger is fully on track, Unilever said. In April,
Unilever launched a broad restructuring which included the
divestment of its margarine and spreads unit, in the wake of a $143
billion takeover approach by Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) earlier in the
year.
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2017 03:38 ET (07:38 GMT)
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