Unilever saw weak trading in quarter three, improvement expected

30th Sep 2013 18:57

In a statement issued after the close of trading, on Monday, consumer goods giant Unilever revealed that it has been witnessing weakening in the market growth of many emerging countries in quarter three.The company will tell attendees at investor conferences hosted by Sanford Bernstein and Bank of America Merrill Lynch this week that it now expects underlying sales growth of 3% to 3.5% in the quarter. The emerging market slow-down has accelerated as a result of significant currency weakening - the company goes on to explain - adding that developed markets remain flat to down.However, Paul Polman, the multi-national´s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) stated: "We continue to grow ahead of our markets and expect underlying sales growth to improve in quarter four. For 2013 we are still on course to deliver against our priorities of profitable volume growth ahead of our markets, steady and sustainable core operating margin improvement and strong cash-flow".AB