Unilever’s sales in second quarter fail to hit the mark

Consumer goods maker Unilever reported lower-than-expected second-quarter sales on Thursday, hurt by a Brazilian transport strike and weak pricing.

The Anglo-Dutch maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise said underlying sales rose 1.9 per cent, excluding the recently divested spreads business.

On that basis, analysts on average were expecting growth of 2.3 per cent.

For the first half of the year, underlying sales growth excluding spreads was 2.7 per cent, below estimates of 3 per cent.

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First-half turnover excluding spreads fell 4.8 per cent to €24.9 billion, hurt by currency fluctuations.

The company stood by its forecast for full-year growth of 3 to 5 per cent, helped by price increases.

Chief financial officer Graeme Pitkethly told Reuters the pricing outlook should improve in the second half, as currency fluctuations drive up commodity costs in local currencies.

Underlying earnings per share for the first half rose 7.8 per cent to €1.22. – Reuters