In an interview with CNBC, Paul Polman called prestige beauty a $70 billion market that is growing 6% a year. No wonder why the company has made a spat of acquisitions in that space during 2015. Those acquisitions include Murad, Dermalogica, Kate Somerville and REN.
"Volume growth is now slow right now in the world. You saw the IMF (International Monetary Fund) lowering the overall global forecasts; we'll have to deal with that," Polman told CNBC Thursday.
For the six months, Unilever posted better-than-expected sales of E27.0 billion ($29.4 billion at current exchange rates), including a positive currency impact of 10%. Underlying sales growth improved 2.9%, with volume up 1.1% and price up 1.7%. Emerging markets underlying sales growth improved 6.0%, with volume up 1.9% and price up 4.0%.
"But as you can see these results are better than previous quarter and better than the quarter before, so I believe there is a movement in the right direction for the company," he explained.
During the first half, personal care growth was driven by volume and price in competitive markets. Unilever maintains it has a strong innovation pipeline and expects an acceleration in growth in the second half of the year. Good growth in deodorants was supported by the successful dry spray launch in North America and compressed formats, which are rolling from Europe into Latin America. The Dove Advanced Hair Series, is establishing itself well across the world, most recently in Asia. TRESemmé is extending its reach to more premium ranges with the Perfectly (Un)done and Runway collections. The new Lifebuoy with Activ Naturol offering superior germ kill is helping to grow the brand.
Home Care delivered broad-based growth led by innovations in higher margin segments like machine specialist detergents and fabric conditioners. The roll out of the new Omo with enhanced formulation and improved cleaning technology continued in Latin America and Asia while Omo pre-treaters have built further market share in Brazil. Fabric conditioners performed strongly helped by the launch of Comfort intense, a super-concentrated product that delivers long-lasting freshness. Cif's improved 'Power and Shine' formulation was introduced in 15 European countries.