Unilever Sales Rise on Ice Cream, Emerging-Market Demand

LONDON—Unilever PLC on Thursday said its third-quarter revenue rose sharply as ice cream sales jumped and the company logged strong growth in emerging markets.

The maker of Magnum ice cream and Dove shampoo posted third-quarter sales growth on an underlying basis—which strips out the impact of acquisitions, disposals and exchange-rate changes—of 5.7%, up sharply from 2.1% growth in the same period a year earlier.

Unilever's exposure to emerging markets—where the Anglo-Dutch consumer-products giant makes the bulk of its sales—has held it in good stead for years but recently a slowdown in markets like Brazil, China and Russia has kept a lid on growth.

On an underlying basis, sales growth in emerging markets strengthened to 8.4% from 5.6% a year earlier. The company benefited from an easy comparison with a year-earlier quarter in which revenue in China was hit when Unilever was forced to reduce the volume of products it supplied to big retailers there after overestimating demand.

In developed markets, underlying sales growth was 2.1%, compared with a 2.5% decline a year earlier.

Overall revenue climbed 9.4% to €13.4 billion ($15.4 billion), including a positive currency impact of 2.9%. Profit figures weren't disclosed.

The company has been pushing deeper into personal-care products like shampoo and deodorants that appeal globally, and away from slower-growing food brands. Personal care revenue climbed 6.2% on an underlying basis, while revenue from foods rose 1.6% on this basis.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 15, 2015 03:15 ET (07:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.