Unilever has reaffirmed its full-year outlook after seeing underlying sales growth of 3% in the first quarter.
Sales increased 1.3% in volume terms while prices rose 1.7% as the consumer goods group reported turnover of €14.8%, representing a decline of 0.9% due to the adverse impact (-2.7%) of disposals.
The British multinational expects underlying sales growth 3-5% for the full year due in part to product innovation, momentum in developed markets and expected improvement in Indonesia and China where sales have been subdued.
It is also projecting a modest improvement in its underlying operating margin.
Unilever is also progressing with a productivity programme and hopes to deliver €550m in savings by the end of 2025, with 7,500 planned job cuts.
Its ongoing €1.5bn share buyback programme will be completed by the end of June.
"We have started the year with a resilient performance," said Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever, in a trading statement.
"First quarter underlying sales growth of 3% reflects the strength of our increasingly premium and innovation-led portfolio in developed markets. We have interventions in place in some emerging markets to step up growth in the remainder of the year."
Fernandez expressed confidence in Unilever's innovation programme and investment to help the group overcome "heightened global macroeconomic uncertainty."
"Creating desirability at scale for our brands and brilliant in-market execution are the pillars of our plan to turn Unilever into a consistently higher performing business. We are moving at pace, confident in making progress in 2025 and beyond."
The trading statement shows that underlying sales growth increased in its beauty & wellbeing (+2.9% to €3.3bn), foods (+0.1% to €3.4bn) and ice cream (+2.8% to €1.8bn) lines while declining in personal care (-4.4% to €3.3bn) and home care (-4.2%to €3bn).
Sales for Unilever's power brands increased 3%, led by Dove (+8%), Vaseline, Liquid IV and Magnum.
Earlier this month, Unilever agreed to acquire personal care brand Wild following agreements to buy Indian beauty brands Minimalist and dispose of The Vegetarian Butcher.
Commenting on the results, Wealth Club manager of quality shares portfolio Charlie Huggins said the results could have been worse considering the difficult economic conditions.
"Overall, it's a resilient start to the year for Unilever, and new CEO, Fernando Fernandez, remains confident that growth will improve as self-help actions take hold," he continued.
"Unilever's recent CEO change was a big surprise for investors. However, it was probably the right move. While Hein Schumacher was seen as a steady hand at the wheel, Fernandez is very highly regarded, and is likely to go quicker and harder at solving Unilever's problems.
"His no-nonsense approach is just what Unilever needs right now, for it faces several challenges."
Huggins said that Unilever's performance in emerging markets was nowhere near good enough, and that the group would have to out-innovate its rivals and execute flawlessly to combat the threat from own-label products.
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