By Peter Evans
LONDON--Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN) Thursday reported its worst
quarterly sales figures since the height of the financial crisis,
confirming long-held fears of a slowdown in emerging markets that
will sound alarm bells for rival consumer goods companies such as
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG).
Unilever posted third-quarter underlying sales growth of 3.2%,
down from 5.9% in the same period a year earlier, marking the
Anglo-Dutch company's worst performance since the fourth quarter of
2009. Growth in emerging markets slowed to 5.9% from 12.1% a year
earlier. Underlying sales growth is adjusted for the impact of
acquisitions, disposals and exchange rate changes.
Revenue in the quarter fell 6.5% to EUR12.5 billion ($17.2
billion).
Investors had largely anticipated the drop-off in growth after
Unilever last month issued a profit warning, blaming currency
weakness in emerging markets.
Still, the slowdown will grab the attention of other consumer
products companies, which have in recent years focused much of
their resources on emerging markets, where customers were less
affected by the global recession.
Thanks to its early expansion into countries including China and
India, Unilever makes close to 60% of its sales in these
economies--significantly higher than the 39% made by main rival
P&G.
"Emerging markets continue to be the main driver of our growth
and, despite the current slow-down, they remain a significant
growth opportunity which the company is well-placed to capitalize
on," said Chief Executive Paul Polman.
Write to Peter Evans at peter.evans@wsj.com
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