Food and consumer goods giant Unilever reported a three per cent rise in third-quarter net profits but warned it was reviewing its targets up to 2010, after it issued a shock profits warning last month.
Anglo-Dutch Unilever, which owns brands such as Dove soap, Hellman's mayonnaise and Knorr soups, posted third-quarter net profits of €1.187 billion.
Unilever's joint chairmen Mr Antony Burgmans and Mr Patrick Cescau said in a results statement.
Unilever said its underlying third-quarter earnings per share rose just three per cent , and reiterated that it expects low single-digit earnings growth for the year.
In September, the group warned it expected annual underlying earnings per share to grow by less than 5 per cent , compared with its previous forecast of more than 10 per cent , following weaker-than-forecast trading in July and August especially in ice cream and ready-to-drink Lipton teas.
Unilever was hit by cool wet summer in northern Europe which shrank ice-cream and iced-tea sales, and by heightened competition for its laundry products, soaps and shampoos in Europe and Asia largely from its arch-rival Procter and Gamble.
Sales of Unilever's 400 top brands, which make up over 95 per cent of group sales, dipped 0.9 per cent in the third quarter after it warned the fall would be more than the second quarter's 0.2 per cent dip, and the performance well behind the 0.5 per cent rise seen in the first half.
While Unilever plans a big rise in fourth-quarter marketing spend to reignite top-line growth, but this will limit earnings growth and profit margin improvement.
Unilever Plc shares have underperformed the FTSE-100 index by 15 per cent and rival Reckitt Benckiser by over 25 per cent so far this year. They closed on Tuesday at 449-1/2 pence down from a high for the year of 582-1/2p in February.