Unilever Sales, Profits Slump As London Move Looms

Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever Thursday revealed a drop in both sales and profits in the first half of 2018, saying markets remained "challenging" amid moves to leave its London base this year

The Hague, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jul, 2018 ) :Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever Thursday revealed a drop in both sales and profits in the first half of 2018, saying markets remained "challenging" amid moves to leave its London base this year.

Sales fell some 5.0 percent to 26.4 billion Euros ($30.7 billion) in the first six months, down from 27.7 billion euros on the same period in 2017.

Net profits also slid by 2.4 percent to 3.2 billion euros, down from 3.3 billion euros from January to June last year, as the company took a hit from a 11-day truckers strike in Brazil and Currency fluctuations.

Unilever, which has over 400 household brands in its portfolio, said however the first half showed "a solid, all round performance with some challenging markets.

" Chief executive Paul Polman insisted "our expectation for the full year is unchanged," adding the Rotterdam-based company believed it would have underlying sales growth in the 3 percent to 5 percent range" in 2018.

He also announced that Unilever had completed the sale of its margarines and butters division to US private equity giant KKR by its July 2 deadline, saying in a conference call it was "one of the most involved and complex transactions in Unilever's history."The first half of a six billion euros buy-back scheme also ended on Thursday, with the next three billion euros to start on Friday.