Unilever reports 6.3% decline in turnover on back of poor exchange rates
Unilever has seen its turnover decline by 6.3 per cent to €11.4 billion despite posting growth in both sales and volume after being hit by a negative currency impact over the first quarter.
The multinational consumer goods firm reported underlying sales growth rose 3.6 per cent with emerging markets surging by 6.6 per cent - helped in no small part by a 1.9 per cent increase in underlying volume and a 1.6 per cent boost to pricing.
Paul Polman, Unilever’s chief executive officer, said: “We delivered good growth in the first quarter despite slowing markets and a tough competitive environment, further evidence that Unilever is now delivering consistently ahead of our markets. We saw a continuation of the competitive performances in Home Care and Personal Care and a strong start to the year in Refreshment. The decline in Foods was largely explained by the later timing of Easter and I am confident that we are now taking the right actions to improve performance. We are now gaining market share in margarines in Europe and North America in response to our investment in communicating the improved taste and naturalness of our brands.
“Emerging markets are currently passing through a period of slower demand and economic volatility but our strategy remains unchanged. We continue to invest in our brands so that they are well-placed to benefit from the significant longer term growth opportunity that will come from growing populations and higher disposable income.”
On the back of the results Unilever has increased its quarterly dividend by 6 per cent to €0.285.