Unilever’s Share Price Fell 3.51% After Its Q3 Turnover Fell to €15.2bn

The Unilever plc (LON: ULVR) share price fell 3.51% after releasing its third-quarter earnings results, which indicated that the company achieved a robust underlying sales growth of 5.2% to hit a €15.2 billion turnover. The growth was broken down into 5.8% due to price increases and a slight 0.6% decrease in volume.

However, the underlying sales growth (USG) was down 3.8% compared to the 2022 figures. The company’s USG for the nine months to September was up 7.7% to €45.8 billion but was up a mere 0.4% compared to 2022 data. 

Unilever’s product categories recorded positive growth, including personal care, beauty & wellbeing, nutrition, and home care. The only exception was the ice cream segment, which recorded a 2.8% decline and generated revenues worth €2.2 billion. 

The Q3 report highlighted a moderation in underlying price growth as inflation eases. However, underlying volumes shifted positively, particularly in the Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, and Home Care segments. 

The company's turnover decreased by 3.8% to €15.2 billion. This decrease is primarily attributed to an 8.0% impact from currency fluctuations and a 0.6% reduction due to disposals net of acquisitions.

Brands generating over a billion Euros in revenue, accounting for 56% of the Group's turnover, reported an impressive 7.2% underlying sales growth. This growth is attributed to a 5.7% price increase and a 1.4% expansion in volume. Notable contributors to this performance include Dove, Hellmann's, Rexona, and Sunsilk.

The company's outlook for 2023 remains consistent, expecting to achieve underlying sales growth exceeding 5%. 

Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s CEO, stated: “Unilever is a company with strong fundamentals: a portfolio of great brands used by 3.4 billion people each day, number one or two category positions across 80% of its turnover, an unrivalled global footprint, and a team of talented people. Despite these strengths, our performance in recent years has not matched our potential. The quality of our growth, productivity and returns have all under-delivered.” 

“Today, we are setting out our action plan to close this gap. We will drive faster growth by stepping up innovation and investment behind our Power Brands; we will drive simplicity and productivity, leveraging the full strength of our operating model; and we will sharpen our performance culture through strong leadership and stretching goals.” 

Unilever share price. 

The Unilever share price fell 3.51% to trade at 3872.5p from Wednesday’s closing price of 4013.5p.