Unilever H1 underlying earnings grow

Consumer goods company Unilever said on Thursday that underlying earnings had grown in the six months ended 30 June as the group remained focussed on driving high-quality sales growth and gross margin expansion.

Unilever said underlying sales increased 4.1% year-on-year, with volumes and prices up 2.6% and 1.6%, respectively. H1 turnover came to €31.1bn.

The FTSE 100-listed firm said its power brands unit "performed strongly" with 5.7% underlying sales growth, while its other brands also saw "a sequential volume improvement" to -1.1% in Q2.

Underlying operating margins improved 250 basis points to 19.6%, while gross margins were up 420 basis points.

Unilever stated underlying earnings per share increased 16.3% to €1.62 per share, leading the group to hike its quarterly dividend by 3% and launch a €1.5bn share buyback programme.

Chief executive Hein Schumacher said: "We are focused on driving high-quality sales growth and gross margin expansion, led by our power brands. Over the first half, we made progress on those ambitions.

"There is much to do, but we remain focused on transforming Unilever into a consistently higher-performing business."

As of 0840 BST, Unilever shares were up 6.67% at 4,690.44p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com