Unilever reports upbeat trading

Consumer products giant Unilever today cleared up some confusion over last year’s sales figures by saying trading came in at a stronger-than-forecast 5.4%.

The Anglo-Dutch group, which is also behind brands such as Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, said underlying sales in its leading labels grew 5.4% during 2002, ahead of forecasts it gave a month ago of between 4.5% and 5%.

Unilever said the sales rise reflected “strong innovation” backed up by increased investment in its brands.

The group’s statement came after some confusion was caused in the market on Friday regarding sales for 2002, when joint chairman Antony Burgmans was quoted giving remarks seen as ambiguous.

Answering a question regarding trading, Mr Burgmans said: “I can’t give a figure for quarter four because that is price sensitive information. But you can believe me that we will do better in 2002 than in 2001.”

Following the remark, Unilever saw some volatility in its share price as traders tried to understand whether the chairman was referring to quarter four figures, or for data for the whole year.

Today’s statement caused some relief among traders and shares nudged up 3.5p to 537.5p.

Unilever’s statement however was brief as the group is in its “closed” period ahead of announcing its full year results on February 13.

In its short statement, it said its Path To Growth restructuring had continued to deliver savings in line with plan.

The programme has seen it offload a host of non-core brands to concentrate on its 400 biggest brands.