Unilever Kicks Off Q1 With Gains

First quarter highlights at Unilever show sales growth of 2.8% to $13.6 billion (EU 12.8 billion) with emerging markets up by 5.4%, according to the company. Personal care sales rose 2.7% to $5.1 billion (EU 4.8 billion) while home care increased 3.1% to $2.7 billion (EU 2.5 billion).
 
“We have had a good start to the year, helped by favorable currency movements but also an improvement in underlying sales. This is despite a continued challenging trading environment in many parts of the world. The actions we have been taking to put us on track for higher levels of growth are starting to pay off. We have further strengthened the innovation pipeline, and are increasing investment behind the core of our brands, as well as extending into premium segments and new markets. We continuously strengthen our go-to-market capabilities and sharpen our execution,” said CEO Paul Polman said in a statement.
 
“Despite high levels of currency and commodity volatility, we are now starting to see more tailwinds than headwinds in our markets, and expect our initiatives to deliver a further improvement in volume growth in the remainder of the year. We remain focused on competitive, profitable, consistent and responsible growth. Our priorities continue to be volume growth ahead of our markets, steady improvement in core operating margin and strong cash flow. This is our model for long-term value creation, as evidenced by today's consistent dividend increase.”
 
Personal Care growth improved but remains below historic levels in competitive markets. Deodorants performed well, supported by the newly introduced dry sprays in North America and the launch of the new Axe Black variants. In hair care, Dove saw continued success of the Advanced Hair series while TreSemmé launched the Perfectly (Un)done collection in the US. The company is also introducing to France Zendium, a premium toothpaste. In March, Unilever announced an agreement to acquire the iconic Ren Skincare brand, as previously reported in Happi.
 
Growth in Home Care was broad-based. Having established strong top-line momentum in recent years, laundry growth in the first quarter was lower as the company balanced market share gain and profitability. Omo has launched new products with enhanced cleaning technology in Brazil and Vietnam, while the brand continues to grow well in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and with the new pre-treaters in Brazil. Fabric conditioners performed strongly led by the launch of Comfort intense, a premium super-concentrated products that delivers long-lasting freshness. In household cleaning, Unilever took Cif's improved 'Power and Shine' formulation from the UK to continental Europe.