Unilever Reports Sales Growth of 7.2%
Growth was broad-based, with all categories up by more than 5%. This came from a combination of price growth, new product innovation and increasing consumption in Developing and Emerging markets.
08/05/08 Unilever has said that underlying sales grew by 7.2% in Q1, with 2.3% from volume and a 4.8% increase in price. Europe grew by 2.3% against a relatively strong comparator. There was continued excellent growth in Russia and solid performances across most of Western Europe, notably the UK, but a weaker quarter in Germany. The Americas grew 6.4% with sales up 4.3% in North America and 9.6% in Latin America, helped by further positive developments in Mexico and Brazil and robust sales elsewhere. Asia Africa grew 14.2% with double-digit increases in almost every country in the region.
Growth was broad-based, with all categories up by more than 5%. This came from a combination of price growth, new product innovation and increasing consumption in Developing and Emerging markets. Tea, ice cream, spreads and laundry were particularly strong. Growth in personal care of 5.8% was lower than in a strong first quarter of 2007, reflecting a more even phasing of innovation.
Advertising and promotions increased broadly in line with sales, with almost all of the additional investment going to advertising in priority markets. Unilever said that commodity cost increases accelerated further in the quarter. However, the company continued to manage through this with a combination of innovation-led growth, savings programmes and price increases, to deliver an underlying improvement in operating margin.
