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Unilever has announced its half-year financials, with
the consumer products giant seeing pre-tax profits climb
by 14% to ?3.135bn despite a slight drop in turnover.
Unilever said underlying sales were up by 7% for the
last six months, although revenues for the group dipped
over the period by 0.5% to ?19.945bn.
News of the results comes after Unilever earlier this
month completed the disposal of its Bertolli olive oil
business to Spanish-based Grupo SOS in a ?500m deal.
And last week the group sold its US laundry division to
Vestar for $1.45bn (?732m) but ruled out selling off its
European brands, which include Surf and Persil.
?Our performance in the first half year has been good in
what has been a challenging environment,? said Unilever
chief executive Patrick Cescau, who is due to stand down
next year.
?We have delivered 7% underlying sales growth and an
underlying improvement in profitability while
maintaining competitiveness. The changes already
implemented in the business have made us nimbler and
better able to respond to the market conditions. We are
doing so against our clear priorities of maintaining
competitiveness, improving margins and investing
selectively to gain market share.?
He added: ?For this year we confirm our outlook for
delivering growth ahead of our 3%-5% target range, with
an underlying improvement in operating margin.?
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