Unilever’s sales jump as Indian shoppers snap up Dove soap

UNILEVER’S sales of its hair and personal care products including Dove soap accelerated in India and Latin America, leading the consumer-goods company to improve its full-year outlook.

Underlying sales increased 5.2 per cent in its fiscal third quarter, the maker of Rexona deodorant said on Wednesday (Oct 28), led by developing markets.

That was ahead of analyst estimates, and Unilever now expects volumes to grow at least 3 per cent this year and sales to grow about 5 per cent, slight upgrades on its previous targets.

CEO Fernando Fernandez is nearing two years into his tenure and his plan to turn Unilever into a pure home and personal care company.

He has focused on ramping up sales of premium beauty products and offloading its food division, and putting more emphasis on India, as well as the US.

Shares of Unilever were little changed this year through Tuesday’s close.

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Unilever has completed the spinoff of its ice cream unit, and is in the process of merging the food business, which includes Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Knorr stock cubes, with McCormick. Food sales were flat in the latest quarter, which Unilever attributed to steep competition.

Hair care brands, spanning budget friendly Sunsilk to higher-end K18, were strong performers, as were its fabric cleaning brands across its OXO range. BLOOMBERG