Unilever, the maker of Marmite, Magnums and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, has announced that it has beaten its quarterly sales forecasts as rises in prices triggered only a small dip in volumes.
The consumer goods company, which has UK sites in London, Surrey and Gloucestershire, and a research hub in its historic Wirral home at Port Sunlight, said on Thursday (April 27) that its 10.7% increase in prices was, however, not has high as in recent quarters, which indicates signs that inflationary pressures could ease and input costs declined.
Unilever reported a 10.5% rise in underlying first-quarter sales to €14.8bn ($16.4bn), beating analysts' average forecast for a 7.2% increase, according to a company-provided consensus. That included a 10.7% increase in prices and a 0.2% dip in volumes. Price growth was slower versus the previous two quarters, and down from a record 13.3% reported in February, while the decline in volumes improved from the 3.6% drop posted at that time.
