Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group Unilever, battling to reverse a sagging sales trend, posted an 11 per cent rise in third-quarter profits today and improving margins even as sales stagnated.
The figures were bang in line with market forecasts, coming hard on the heels of Unilever's second sales warning this year, and first trades in London saw the shares edge up 0.6 per cent to 499p.
Unilever, home to household names like Slimfast slimmer's aids, Dove soap, and Knorr soups, repeated its forecast of healthy net earnings growth for the year.
Net profit before exceptional items and goodwill rose to €1.25 billion, exactly in line with the analysts' consensus forecasts. Sales were virtually unchanged at €12.29 billion.
Unilever disappointed markets last week as it reduced its 2003 sales growth target for its 400 top brands for the second time this year, this time to "below three per cent".
Weakness in revenue growth has been largely down to poor performance in the Prestige product group of mass-market perfume and in Health & Wellness, where Slimfast slimmers' aids have been hit hard by alternative diets such as Atkins.
The stagnation in Unilever's sales growth is in marked contrast to some of its closest competitors.
France's Danone, a world leader in fresh dairy products and bottled water, recently reported 9.4 percent growth in third quarter sales, while US consumer giant Procter & Gamble notched up 13 percent sales growth for the third quarter.
Unilever shares have underperformed the DJ Stoxx Food & Beverages index by about 16 per cent this year, and have also lost 16 per cent of their absolute value.