Flora-to-Persil firm Unilever today said it had chosen the boss of Nestle’s Americas division as its next chief executive.

Consumer products giant Unilever today announced the departure of chief executive Patrick Cescau after 35 years with the company.

CONSUMER goods giant Unilever reported underlying sales below analyst expectations yesterday and gave a lacklustre outlook for 2007, sending its shares lower.

Ericsson posted a big loss for the third quarter and said that it does not expect a recovery in the near future.

Ericsson has posted a third-quarter net loss of £262m as sales fell 19%.