Unilever Q3 Sales Rise on Beauty & Personal Care Gains

Unilever, the world’s biggest fast-moving consumer goods company, reported Q3 sales rose 3.9% to E14.7 billion ($17.0 billion) on 1.5% volume gains. By segment, beauty and wellbeing sales rose 3.9%, personal care, 4.1%, homecare, 3.1%; foods, 3.4% and ice cream, 3.7%.

“We continued to outperform in developed markets in the third quarter, led by our strong innovation program, and, following decisive interventions, stepped up our emerging markets performance with a return to growth in Indonesia and China. Growth was broad based across all Business Groups and driven by our Power Brands,” said CEO Fernando Fernandez. “Our performance excluding ice cream showed good sequential improvement, with a step up in volume growth. We expect to complete the demerger of the ice cream business by the end of the year.”

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For the nine months, corporate sales fell 3.3% to E44.8 billion ($52.0 billion). Every category reported a sales decline.

A Simpler Unilever with a Sharper Focus

The moves will create a simpler Unilever, with a sharper focus and structurally higher margin profile., according to Fernandez.

“We’re shaping a brand portfolio that’s built for the future – with more Beauty, Wellbeing and Personal Care, prioritizing premium segments and digital commerce, and anchoring our growth in the US and India. By putting desire at scale at the core of our strategy, and executing with excellence across every channel; we’re setting up Unilever to win.