Unilever Q1 results show solid growth led by emerging markets
Unilever has announced its results for the first quarter of 2019, which show underlying sales growth of 3.1%, led by it emerging market business which grew 5.0%.
Commenting on the results, CEO Alan Jope said the sold start to the business year keeps the company on track to achieve its growth objectives for the full year. He noted that growth was led by emerging markets and was balanced between volume and price.
According to the CEO, “Accelerating growth is our number one priority. It requires both great execution and a continued strategic shift into faster growth segments and channels. We saw good performance in key growth channels including out-of-home and e-commerce and benefited from stronger global innovations and faster and more relevant local innovation. The acquisitions we have made since 2015 collectively grew double-digit in the first quarter. With the leadership changes announced in March, we are building the right team to drive our growth agenda.
“For the full year we continue to expect underlying sales growth to be in the lower half of our multi-year 3% – 5% range, an improvement in underlying operating margin that keeps us on track for the 2020 target and another year of strong free cash flow.
“We estimate that the markets in which we operate are growing around 3%. The emerging markets improved slightly compared with the fourth quarter led by South East Asia and Brazil. In India markets grew well albeit slightly slower than the fourth quarter. High inflation weighed on global market volume growth. Growth remains weak in the developed markets.”
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