Unilever power brands drive sales growth in third quarter

The London-listed food and drink manufacturer posted underlying sales growth of 4.5% compared to 2023, with volume growth also rising to 3.6%.

Although overall sales were up 1.3% for the nine months to the end of September to £12.7bn.

The business experienced significant growth in its ice cream division where underlying sales grew by 9.8% and 6.7% in volume, while underlying sales at its nutrition arm nudged up 1.5%.

Unilever chief executive Hein Schumacher said the sales growth was driven by power brands, with “particularly strong performances” from Dove, Liquid I.V., Comfort and Magnum.

Schumacher said the manufacturer was “very focused in nutrition”, a division that includes brands such as Hellmann’s and Knorr’s, and is keen “on restoring competitiveness in [this] core category”.

He said: “It is very important that we continue to transform the nutrition business to a more focused portfolio. To that end, we are actually improving competitiveness particularly on condiments.”

The Marmite-owner said its 2024 full year outlook remained unchanged, and that it was “confident” in achieving its 3% to 5% underlying sales growth target.

Schumacher added it expected “subdued pricing” in the next couple of quarters, before a “likely” return to to moderate levels of price.

Meanwhile, Unilever revealed that the separation of its ice cream division, announced in March this year, is on track to be completed by the end of 2025.

It added that it intends to progress with the required legal entity set up, the standalone operating model and the carve-out financials, as part of its separation activity and has set up an independent committee to assess the best way forward for the business.

Grocery Gazette