Unilever sales to exceed expectations
Unilever, the giant multinational and owner of Magnum ice cream and Dove soap, is expecting sales to exceed expectations in 2008 following a 34 per cent increase in pre-tax profits for the first quarter.
The consumer goods and food company said its pre-tax profits rose to €1,782 million, while its operating profits rose to €1,815, up 39 per cent.
Unilever said it was to continue to invest in its brands as it recovers from a sharp increase in commodity costs, despite sales in Western Europe being up 2.3 per cent.
Throughout the quarter Unilever launched the Knorr Soup range, Rama healthy oils campaign and entered into a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to launch the Lipton Tea Yellow range.
After appointing Lowe Worldwide to its £104 million global ice cream business and launched the new Magnum Minis. Eva Longoria (pictured) was also unveiled as the face of the brand.
Patrick Cescau, group chief executive, said: “We have a strong innovation programme for 2008, with many important initiatives already in the market. We expect our productivity and value improvement initiatives to continue to deliver excellent results.
“The disciplined execution of our strategy, together with the combined advantage of strong brands, a product range serving consumer’s everyday needs and our broad geographical footprint, leave us well placed to deliver competitive growth with an underlying improvement in operating margin in 2008, despite challenging conditions.”
Unilever has also combined its organisations in the Netherlands and Belgium to cut costs. The reorganisation saw global chief marketing officer Simon Clift's role elevated to report directly to group chief executive Patrick Cescau and Vindi Banga promoted to run the company's combined home and personal care businesses in addition to his food role.
