24 October 2024
If you are covering Unilever’s latest financial results, please find below a comment from Chris Beckett, head of equity research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Unilever has continued its good run of results in recent quarters with a solid trading statement today. Sales were up 4.5%, a little better than expected, suggesting that the momentum that has been generated in recent months is here to stay as the business transforms itself.
“One area that stood out was the ice cream business, which has been put up for sale as part of Unilever’s simplification programme. Sales were up a very impressive 10%, despite the spectre of a sales process looming over that part of the business. This has clearly focused management and helped to deliver good growth. Perhaps they could put more business units up for sale if these are the results it can generate.
“There are some negatives still, but these are generally issues most of the consumer goods companies are having to battle just now. China’s consumer weakness is very much present in these results – developed markets are performing materially better than emerging markets – and Indonesia has been a problem for all western brands. Guidance doesn’t suggest any improvement in these two countries any time soon.
“But all in all, Unilever remains on the road to recovery. If it continues to perform like this then there is still scope for a further re-rating despite the strong share price growth already this year.”
