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Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever posted a 2 per cent drop in third-quarter sales yesterday, blaming a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China.
Turnover dropped to €12.2 billion (HK$121.3 billion), also weighed down by a negative currency impact of 2.6 per cent, it said.
"Market growth slowed in emerging countries and particularly in China," chief executive Paul Polman said.
The company said a sharp market slowdown had led to "trade de-stocking across the distribution channels" in China, leading to a drop in underlying sales of around 20 per cent.
In Europe, sales of one of Unilever's star performers, ice cream, was affected by a wet summer but growth remained positive, especially in key markets such as Turkey.
"Europe had a difficult quarter as we saw price deflation in many markets such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom," Unilever said.
Conditions in North America, however, started to improve, showing 0.6 per cent growth on the back of improvements in manufacturing and distribution infrastructure and streamlining of Unilever's portfolio.
Unilever sold its US-based Slim-Fast brand, which makes ready-to-drink nutritional supplements, powders and bars, in July for an undisclosed amount to private equity firm Kainos Capital.
Looking ahead, Polman said Unilever expected "markets to remain tough for at least the remainder of the year".
The company said it expected trade de-stocking in China would be "largely complete" by the end of the year and it was "confident that we will achieve another year of profitable income growth".
Founded in 1930, Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of consumer goods and owns brands including Lipton Yellow Label tea, Magnum ice cream, Knorr, Omo washing powder, Vaseline and Dove.


China slowdown contributes to Unilever's 2 per cent drop in sales

Cosmetics is a key component of Unilever's product range but sales have dropped off, particularly in the mainland. Photo: Bloomberg

Business

China Business

Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever posted a 2 per cent drop in third-quarter sales yesterday, blaming a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China.


China slowdown contributes to Unilever's 2 per cent drop in sales

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever posted a 2 per cent drop in third-quarter sales yesterday, blaming a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China.

Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever posted a 2 per cent drop in third-quarter sales yesterday, blaming a slowdown in emerging markets, particularly China.