Unilever off to “solid start” in 2019

As a result of the divestment of its margarine division, Unilever saw its quarterly turnover fall 1.6 % to 12.4 billion euros, which is a better result than analysts had expected. CEO Alan Jope saw enough good reasons to call this a ”solid start” to 2019.

3.1 % autonomous turnover growth

Unilever got off to a better start of the year than was generally anticipated: while its quarterly turnover may well be less due to the sale of the concern’s margarine division last summer, at 12.4 billion euros Unilever is doing better than expected. Analysts were predicting a quarterly turnover of 12.3 billion.

At 3.1 %, autonomous growth is also better than the 2.8 % assumed by analysts, courtesy of both higher volumes (+ 1.2 %) and higher prices (+ 1.9 %). The “Home Care” division (Biotex, Omo, Cif, etc.) posted strong autonomous growth (+ 6 %), while the “Beauty & Personal Care” division (Dove, Rexona, Axe) went up by 3.1 %, with “Foods & Refreshment” (Magnum, Knorr, Lipton, etc.) adding another 1.5 %.

““We have delivered a solid start that keeps us on track for our full year expectations”, says CEO Alan Jope, who succeeded Dutchman Paul Polman in late 2018.