Unilever, the owner of Marmite, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s, has defended on-going price rises despite a better-than-expected 17% rise in profits. Shares in the London-based company rose 6% on Thursday morning as Unilever said its profit margins had risen 2.5 points to 19.
6% in first half of the year – well ahead of analyst expectations – as prices rose 1.6%. Underlying operating profit rose 17.
1% year-on-year to €6.1bn (£5.14bn) for the period to the end of June.
The company said its profit margins had been helped by “carry-over pricing from a period of higher inflation”, as well as efficiency benefits from selling more products and more premium brands. Shares in the London-based company rose 6% on Thursday morning as Unilever said its profit margins had risen 2.5 points to 19.
6% in first half of the year – well ahead of analyst expectations – as prices rose 1.6%. Hein Schumacher, the chief executive of Unilever, said: “Over the last year we did not pass on all of the inflationary impact to consumers.
” The strong profits came despite a slowdown in the US beauty market and disappointing sales in south-east Asia, where Unilever said trade had been partly hit by a consumer boycott of western brands due to events in Gaza. The amount of ice-cream sold also fell by 1% amid unseasonable weather in Europe and “challenging market dynamics” in China, where Cornetto sales were down. Unilever said it was “on track” to demerge its ice-cream business, which include.