Consumer goods giant Unilever boosted its full-year outlook on Tuesday, following a bumper end to the first-half.<\/p>\n
The owner of Dove, Lynx and Persil, among many others, said underlying sales growth in the six months to June end had risen 4.8%, driven by robust performances in both homecare and beauty and wellbeing. Company-wide volumes sparked 4.2% and prices 0.6%.<\/p>\n
Operating profits were 2.6% higher at \u20ac4.9bn.<\/p>\n
Fernando Fernandez, chief executive, said there had been a “significant step-up in the second quarter”, including the best volume quarter for over a decade. Underlying sales growth in the final three months of the period was 5.8%, outstripping consensus for 4.3%.<\/p>\n
He continued: “Our power brands continued to outperform, with all business groups delivering volume-led growth. Emerging markets showed momentum – India, Indonesia and Latin America all delivered strong growth – while North America again outperformed its market.”<\/p>\n
As a result, the blue chip now expects underlying sales in the second half to rise by between 4% and 5%, led by pricing, and full-year sales growth of between 4% and 6%.<\/p>\n
It had previously forecast full-year sales growth to come in at the bottom end of that range.<\/p>\n
Fernandez said: “The macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, but our consistency, discipline and strong first half performance give us confidence that we are well positioned to deliver our upgraded full-year outlook.”<\/p>\n
Under company veteran Fernandez, who took the top job in March 2025, Unilever has been refocusing to become a pure-play home and personal care specialist. Its ice cream business was spun off last year, and in March it agreed to merge its food business – home to Hellman\u2019s, Knorr and Pot Noodle – with American spice maker McCormick. The combination is poised to create a company worth around $45bn.<\/p>\n
Fernandez said the deal was “progressing well”. On track to close by mid-2027, last week McCormick confirmed it would seek a secondary listing in London for the combined business. The deal still requires regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n