July 25 – Unilever (ULVR.L) reported disappointing underlying quarterly sales on Thursday, falling short of expectations as it struggled to regain customers lost due to previous price hikes.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The company, known for its Dove soap and Hellmann’s condiments, posted a 3.9% increase in second-quarter underlying sales, missing the average analyst forecast of a 4.2% rise, according to a company-compiled consensus. While underlying price growth for the quarter was 1%, below market expectations, underlying volume sales growth exceeded estimates at 2.9%.
“There is much to do, but we remain focused on transforming Unilever into a consistently higher performing business,” CEO Hein Schumacher said in a statement.
Unilever maintained its underlying sales growth forecast of 3% to 5%, primarily driven by volume. The company also projected an underlying operating margin of at least 18% for the year. For the six months ending in June, underlying operating profit rose 17% to 6.1 billion euros ($6.61 billion), and the underlying operating margin increased by 250 basis points to 19.6%, although a slowdown is expected in the second half of the year.