Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unileverreported a 38 per cent fall in first quarter profits today, but its shares rose as the results beat forecasts.
The Knorr soup, Lipton tea and Calvin Klein fragrance company said pre-tax profits fell to euro 628 million, due to an expected increase in interest charges and planned restructuring and goodwill write-downs.
"These are a solid set of results, ahead of expectations and the stock should move forward," said Mr Nicolas Sochovsky, food industry analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Unilever shares in London rose over two per cent or 11p to £5.19 in London this morning.
Sales of the key 400 brands which include Dove soap and Close-up toothpaste rose by 4.3 per cent, and in the first quarter these key leading brands moved ahead by 5.4 per cent.
Unilever is trailing its main two European food rivals with Nestle reporting first quarter growth of 4.6 per cent and Danone 5.5 per cent, with analysts estimating Unilever is seeing underlying volume growth of around four per cent, although its top brands grew volumes five per cent.
Unilevershares in London have outperformed the All-Share FTSE market by 35 per cent over the last 12 months and by nine per cent against the Dow Jones European Food and Beverage index, after recovering from a low of £334 just over a year ago.