Unilever H1 Pretax Profit Rises; Underlying Sales Up 4.7% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Unilever PLC (UN, ULVR.L, UL) reported first-half pretax profit of 3.64 billion euros compared to 3.61 billion euros, a year ago. Profit to shareholders' equity increased to 2.51 billion euros from 2.49 billion euros. Earnings per share was 0.88 euros compared to 0.87 euros. Core earnings per share was 0.92 euros, up 7.5% at constant exchange rates, up 1.3% at current exchange rates.

First-half turnover was 26.28 billion euros compared to 26.99 billion euros, prior year. Sales increased by 5.4% at constant exchange rates and decreased by 2.6% at current exchange rates. The Group reported underlying sales growth of 4.7% with volume up 2.2%.

Paul Polman, CEO, stated: "Our first half results further demonstrate the progress we have made in the transformation of Unilever to deliver consistent, competitive, profitable and responsible growth. Despite a challenging environment with slower global economic growth and intensifying geopolitical instability, we have again grown profitably in our markets, competitively and driven by strong innovations."