Household, Personal Products Drive Sales at Unilever

Sales rose 2.1% to $15.5 billion for the third quarter 2014 at Unilever, with personal care up 3.0% to $5.7 billion and home care jumping 5.7% to $2.9. For the nine months, sales rose 3.2% to $46 billion with emerging markets up 6.2%. Personal care rose 4.0% to $16.5 billion and home care increased 6.4% to $8.6 billion.

In personal care, Deodorants benefited from a strong performance of Dove, the launch of Rexona Anti-bacterial Protection in Latin America and the success of the compressed aerosol range in Europe. Skin cleansing saw continued strong growth for Lifebuoy and the improved Dove Nutrium Moisture body wash performed well. Lux continued to benefit from the improved product range and new brand communication.

In hair, the Dove Advanced Hair series is building a premium offering with the introduction of the Oxygen Moisture range in Europe. Sunsilk is growing well and Clear benefited from a successful launch in Japan. Regenerate Enamel Science, our new oral brand which is the first toothpaste and serum system that regenerates the enamel surface with a layer of minerals that have the same chemical composition as natural enamel, is progressing well in the United Kingdom.

Laundry saw good growth, balanced between price and volume, in competitive markets. A range of stain removers and pre-treaters was successfully launched under the Omo brand in Brazil and Surf was re-launched with improved fragrance in South East Asia and Australasia. Small & Mighty concentrated liquids remain a key growth driver and fabric conditioners benefited from the continued growth of Comfort Aromatherapy super-sensorials.

Household cleaning growth continued to outpace the market driven by strong double-digit performances from Domestos and dishwash, helped by innovations such as Sunlight Nature in South East Asia. In the United Kingdom, Cif sprays were re-launched with improved 'Power and Shine' formulations.

According to CEO Paul Polman, “Underlying sales growth of 3.2% in the first nine months is a competitive performance in markets which weakened further as macro-economic conditions continued to put pressure on consumers. Market growth slowed in emerging countries and particularly in China where we also experienced substantial trade de-stocking. Europe saw price deflation and poor summer weather compared with last year but conditions in North America started to improve.

“Altogether this resulted in reduced third quarter growth, but still ahead of our markets. We continued to invest behind our brands and innovations so that we are well-positioned for the long term growth opportunities which remain fully intact. We expect markets to remain tough for at least the remainder of the year. We have further accelerated our initiatives to remove unnecessary cost, simplify the business and ensure that Unilever is both agile and resilient.

“We are confident that we will achieve another year of profitable volume growth ahead of our markets, steady and sustainable core operating margin improvement and strong cash flow.”