Unilever reports third quarter as ‘robust’ but hit by currency effects, beauty strong

Unilever’s Q3 trading statement on Thursday cited “solid results” for the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant despite being hit hard by negative currency impacts.

Turnover for the group as a whole was €15.2 billion, implying underlying sales growth (USG) of 5.2%, although on a reported basis turnover was down 3.8%.

Giant Beauty and Wellness division turnover fell 4.9% on a reported basis to €3.1 billion, while USG experienced a 7.4% increase. The even larger Personal Care division achieved a turnover of €3.6 billion; this figure was down 2.2% as reported, but up 8% at USG.

The company, which has been steadily increasing the prices of its popular brands, said 5.8% of its 5.2% underlying sales growth came at premium prices, a figure that was pulled back slightly by a 0.6% volume decline.

He added that underlying price growth continues to moderate as inflation subsides, with underlying volumes now positive in both Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care.

So what do you make of this overall decline in turnover based on reported data? The company said 8% of the decrease was due to unfavorable currency effects and 0.6% was due to sales excluding acquisitions.

But its multi-billion-euro brands, which account for 56% of the company’s total turnover, delivered underlying sales growth of 7.2%, of which 1.4% came from volume growth; This is good news as these brands should see volumes. is expanding. Dove brand and Sunsilk were among the brands that stood out with their strong performance.

Looking at specific segment performance, as we said, Beauty and Wellbeing delivered 7.4% USG. This came on a balance of price and volume growth, with Prestige Beauty and Health & Wellbeing continuing to grow strongly.

Personal Care’s 8% growth was split by 4% from price and 3.9% from volume, driven by double-digit growth in Deodorants.

Emerging markets increased underlying sales by 8.3%, while volume growth rose to 2.6% and price growth rose to 5.6%. Latin America provided 14% USG; While volumes improved further with 6.2% growth, price growth slowed to 7.4%.

South Asia recorded mid-single digit growth as price growth slowed due to lower Skin Cleaning and Fabric Cleaning prices. The Chinese market is recovering slower than expected, with sales falling to mid-single digits, while South East Asia recorded low-single-digit growth.

Developed markets grew 0.8%, driven by a 5.2% volume decline and a 6.3% price increase. North America and Europe recorded low single-digit growth, driven by prices.