Unilever has announced its third quarter 2020 results showing overall sales are up by 4.4%, including 3.9% in volume and 0.5% in price.
Previously: P&G Q1 2021 Results Show 9% Net Sales Increase
According to Unilever, beauty and personal care underlying sales grew 3.9%, with 3.5% coming from volume and 0.4% from price. Skin cleansing sales grew 19.9%. Its growth was attributed to innovations including Dove's entry into the antibacterial segment and the extension of Lifebuoy into new formats and channels across several European markets.
Demand for hand hygiene products remained high but was slightly below levels seen in the second quarter.
Skin care declined by high-single digit and deodorants declined by low-single digit figures, according to the results.
Hair grew overall, as a decline in styling was offset by growth in wash and care products.
Unilever also reported emerging market underlying sales grew 5.3%, and developed market, 3.1%.
Turnover decreased by 2.4%, with a negative impact from currency of 7.7%.
CEO Alan Jope said:
We have delivered a strong performance this quarter. Volume-led growth shows the resilience of our portfolio and our agility in responding to rapidly changing dynamics across consumer segments, geographies and channels.
We continue to progress our strategic change agenda. Our proposals to simplify Unilever’s dual-headed legal structure have received strong support from both NV and PLC shareholders, and we have set out our clean future strategy in home care to eliminate fossil fuel derived carbon from our cleaning products by 2030.
The environment we are operating in will remain unpredictable in the near term, so we will continue to maintain the speed and agility of our response. Our focus remains on volume-led competitive growth, delivering absolute profit and free cash flow.
