Unilever warns for slower growth

Positive exchange rates

The British-Dutch company managed a 27 billion euro turnover in the first half of 2015, up 12 % over last year. Positive exchange rates were a big part of the turnover increase, because the company would only have had a 2.9 % growth without the exchange rates. Sales volumes dropped in the United States, while European and Latin American sales volumes grew. European prices did plummet however, which means that local turnover did drop.

Unilever’s net profit also got hit with an 11 % drop, reaching 2.7 billion euro. On the other hand, Unilever sold off several subsidiaries last year, which also bumped up its profits last year: excluding that one-time income, Unilever’s profit would have increased 16 % this year, over last year’s numbers.

The company does warn for slower growth as consumer demand drops, but it expects a higher growth rate than any of its competitors over the course of its full fiscal year. To strengthen its position in the skin care market, it has been actively buying skin care products over the past few months.