Economic ‘headwinds’ in emerging countries have slowed down Unilever’s growth, it said today, as the fmcg giant warned of sluggish conditions continuing to hit its major markets.
The Anglo-Dutch firm, owner of Wall’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Knorr, reported underlying sales growth of 5% in the second quarter, just below market expectations.
Unilever said growth in emerging markets was 10.3%, compared with 10.4% in the previous quarter, while developed markets fell by 1.3%.
In the first half of the year, turnover rose 0.4% to €25.5bn, with net profit up 13% to €2.7bn.
“Growth is slowing in emerging markets, as macro-economic headwinds influence consumer behaviour,” the company said in a statement. “Within this overall trend we see a mixed picture across the major countries reflecting different local circumstances. Developed markets remain sluggish with little sign of any recovery in North America or Europe.
Ice-cream sales grew globally despite poor weather in Europe and the US in the quarter, reflecting the fact Unilever was no longer so dependent on the European summer, it said.
“This set of results clearly demonstrates that the transformation of Unilever to a sustainable growth company is fully on track,” said CEO Paul Polman.
He pointed to strong performances in home care and personal care, adding: “We remain focused on achieving another year of profitable volume growth ahead of our markets, steady and sustainable core operating margin improvement, and strong cash flow.”
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