Consumer goods giant Unilever reported an 11 per cent dip in third-quarter profit as expected, and shares fell after it failed to increase prices and margins dropped.
The Anglo-Dutch group today reported flat pricing over the quarter while its operating margins suffered a higher-than-expected fall.
Analysts said that Unilever was the only major consumer goods group not to have achieved overall price increases in the third quarter and, although marketing spending was rising, it had not seen any improvement in its global market shares.
Unilever shares were off 3.3 per cent, making the company the FTSE 100 index's biggest loser today.
The maker of Knorr soups and Lipton tea is trying to reignite sales growth as it recovers from its first-ever profits warning in 2004, but the extra marketing investment and oil-related costs have put its margins and profits under pressure.
Big food rivals such as Kraft, Danone and Cadbury Schweppes have warned on profits recently, but last month the world's biggest food group, Nestlé, said it had offset higher costs better than others by raising its prices earlier.