LONDON--Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN) Monday downgraded its
expectations for third quarter sales growth amid a accelerated
slowdown in emerging markets.
The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company, which now expects third
quarter underlying sales growth to be between 3% and 3.5%, said the
slowdown in emerging markets growth is due to currency weakening,
and that growth in developed markets remained flat to down.
"We continue to grow ahead of our markets and expect underlying
sales growth to improve in quarter four," said Chief Executive
Officer Paul Polman. "For 2013 we are still on course to deliver
against our priorities of profitable volume growth ahead of our
markets, steady and sustainable core operating margin improvement
and strong cash flow".
London listed shares of Unilever on Monday closed at 2440 pence,
valuing the company at 31.53 billion pounds ($50.88 billion).
Write to Tapan Panchal at tapan.panchal@wsj.com
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