Lower Unilever turnover because of exchange rates

Unilever‘s turnover in the first quarter of its fiscal year reached 12.5 billion euro: a slight drop compared to the year before, that was entirely due to negative exchange rate fluctuations.

Major growth in emerging markets

Turnover dropped 2 %, but exchange rate fluctuations had a 7.1 % negative effect. Therefore Unilever underperformed compared to analysts’ expectations, which stood at 12.8 billion euro. Underlying first quarter turnover growth reached 4.7 % and even 8.3 % in the emerging markets. There was volume growth in the developed markets, but European deflation meant turnover dropped 0.3 %.

“The first quarter demonstrates a strong volume-driven performance, following on from a good delivery in 2015. We are maintaining momentum despite a tougher external environment, with all four categories gaining market share”, CEO Paul Polman said.

Unilever’s fastest-growing branch was Home Care, with a 7 % underlying turnover growth. The company’s largest branch, Personal Care, also managed a 5.8 % underlying turnover growth, while Foods and Refreshment achieved smaller growth, respectively 1.9 % and 3.8 %.