World’s third largest food and consumer goods

group increases sales but reduces profit

According to corporate information released on August 6, in the second quarter of 2009, the Anglo-Dutch group increased its sales by 4.1 percent, but as it reduced its sales margins, its net profits fell by 17 percent, while income grew by one percent.

As for the first half of the year, Unilever reports that its net profit in the semester stood at 1.6 billion euros, 31 percent less than the same period of 2008. Between January and June it had a turnover of 19.96 billion euros and its sales volume grew by 0.2 percent, according to the company’s report filed with the London Stock Exchange.

The group, which employs more than 174,000 people worldwide, improved its figures in the second quarter, compensating the drop suffered over the first three months of 2009, when net profit fell by 45 percent. Its sales volume went up 2 percent in the second quarter, countering the 1.8 percent drop in sales registered between January and March 2009. Operating profit for the first semester of the year was 2.6 billion euros.