Unilever Profit Rises Despite China Sales Slump

LONDON-- Unilever PLC said weakening demand in emerging markets, especially China, showed no sign of letting up last year even as the consumer-goods group reported a rise in full-year profit.

Unilever said on Tuesday that full-year profit rose 6.8% to EUR5.17 billion ($5.98 billion) despite a 2.7% fall in revenue to EUR48.4 billion, dragged down by a 20% sales decline in China in the fourth quarter.

"Growth was weak in emerging markets as economic pressures impacted consumer demand," Unilever said in a statement. Chief executive Paul Polman said market conditions were unlikely to improve in 2015.

Unilever's strategy in the last decade has focused on growth in emerging markets, where it makes nearly 60% of its sales-compared with around 40% at biggest rival Procter & Gamble Co.

Mr. Polman in 2009 set an open-ended goal of doubling annual sales across the company to about $100 billion, with as much as 75% coming from emerging markets.

But Unilever has struggled in recent quarters as many of the economies it once relied on for growth have started to stall. China earlier Tuesday said its economic growth slowed to 7.4% in 2014, the lowest rate in a quarter century.

Unilever said its underlying sales--a measure that strips out the impact of sales, acquisitions and currency movements-i-ncreased 5.7% in emerging markets in 2014, down from 8.7% a year earlier.

Write to Peter Evans at [e-mail]

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