Unilever, the owner of Marmite, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s, has defended price rises continuing despite a better-than-expected 17% increase in profits.
Shares in the London-based company rose 6% on Thursday morning as Unilever said its profit margins had gone up 2.5 points to 19.6% in first half of the year – well ahead of analyst expectations – as prices rose 1.6%. Underlying operating profit increased 17.1% year-on-year to €6.1bn (£5.14bn) for the period to the end of June.
