Business

Higher pricing lifts Unilever third-quarter sales growth

Underlying sales increase 3.8% during the period

Unilever said pricing increases blunted rises in costs. Photograph: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

Thu Oct 18 2018 - 07:57

Unilever reported a pick-up in third-quarter sales on Thursday, as higher prices helped blunt commodity cost increases.

The Anglo-Dutch maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said underlying sales rose 3.8 per cent in the third quarter.

The company said pricing growth in Argentina was excluded, due to its hyperinflationary status. Including Argentina, sales growth would have been 4.5 per cent, the company said.

Analysts on average were expecting 4.3 per cent growth, according to a consensus supplied by the company.

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Improvement

Unilever stood by its outlook, saying it still expects underlying sales growth in the 3 to 5 per cent range, an improvement in underlying operating margin and strong cash flow. It said it remained on track for its 2020 goals.

Regarding this month's scrapped plan to move its single headquarters to the Netherlands, Unilever chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly told Reuters the board would take time to consider all the feedback it got from shareholders before making any further moves. – Reuters

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