Unilever third quarter profit falls 2% as sales flag

LONDON – Unilever PLC, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, reported yesterday that its pretax profit fell two per cent in the third quarter after sales of ice cream, soft drinks and household goods were hit by poor European weather, weak consumer demand and pressure from rivals.

The world’s largest maker of ice cream, whose shares are hovering around a four-year low following a grim profit warning last month, posted pretax profit in the three months to September 30 of 1,318 billion euros (N$10,531 billion dollars), down two per cent from 1,341 billion a year earlier. Operating profit, before exceptional items and goodwill, declined three percent in the period to 1,848 billion euros whiles sales slumped four per cent to US$10,641 billion.”We are dissatisfied with our performance and actions are being taken to improve the market competitiveness of our products,” joint chairmen Antony Burgmans and Patrick Cescauv said in a statement.”We are making adjustments to price points where necessary, stepping up support behind key innovations and increasing media spend for a number of our leading brands.”The maker of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, Lipton ice tea, and Surf washing powder added that targets for the five-year period to 2010 would accompany full-year results.It reiterated that it expected to deliver low single-digit growth in underlying earnings per share this year.The company said underlying sales declined by 1.3 percent in the quarter after a “particularly poor performance in western Europe including significant declines in ice cream and ready-to-drink tea” and lower sales of household goods and personal care products.It added that competition in the laundry and hair-care product markets remained intense in a number of Asian countries.The company has been hurt by stiff competition from rivals such as US giant Procter and Gamble and Germany’s Henkel, the maker of Persil washing powder, along with a squeeze from its main supermarket customers.It has also been adversely affected by a slump in demand for its Slim-Fast range of dietary drinks as a result of the Atkins diet craze in the United States.Unilever said while Slim-Fast market shares had stabilised since the start of the year, year-on-year sales were still significantly down in the quarter.The company has responded by launching a new low-carbohydrate range.On the Amsterdam stock exchange Unilever shares were up 0,38 per cent to 45,20 euros as many analysts were expecting weaker earnings than those reported yesterday.-Nampa-AFPOperating profit, before exceptional items and goodwill, declined three percent in the period to 1,848 billion euros whiles sales slumped four per cent to US$10,641 billion.”We are dissatisfied with our performance and actions are being taken to improve the market competitiveness of our products,” joint chairmen Antony Burgmans and Patrick Cescauv said in a statement.”We are making adjustments to price points where necessary, stepping up support behind key innovations and increasing media spend for a number of our leading brands.”The maker of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, Lipton ice tea, and Surf washing powder added that targets for the five-year period to 2010 would accompany full-year results.It reiterated that it expected to deliver low single-digit growth in underlying earnings per share this year.The company said underlying sales declined by 1.3 percent in the quarter after a “particularly poor performance in western Europe including significant declines in ice cream and ready-to-drink tea” and lower sales of household goods and personal care products.It added that competition in the laundry and hair-care product markets remained intense in a number of Asian countries.The company has been hurt by stiff competition from rivals such as US giant Procter and Gamble and Germany’s Henkel, the maker of Persil washing powder, along with a squeeze from its main supermarket customers.It has also been adversely affected by a slump in demand for its Slim-Fast range of dietary drinks as a result of the Atkins diet craze in the United States.Unilever said while Slim-Fast market shares had stabilised since the start of the year, year-on-year sales were still significantly down in the quarter.The company has responded by launching a new low-carbohydrate range.On the Amsterdam stock exchange Unilever shares were up 0,38 per cent to 45,20 euros as many analysts were expecting weaker earnings than those reported yesterday.-Nampa-AFP