Brazilian strike and currency fluctuations eat into Unilever’s profits
The Hague — Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever on Thursday revealed a drop in both sales and profits in the first half of 2018, saying markets remained "challenging" amid moves to leave its London base this year. Sales fell about 5.0% to €26.4bn in the first six months, down from €27.7bn in the year-earlier period. Net profits also slid by 2.4% to €3.2bn, down from €3.3bn from January to June last year, as the company took a hit from a 11-day truckers strike in Brazil and currency fluctuations. However, Unilever, which has more than 400 household brands in its portfolio, said the first half showed "a solid, all round performance with some challenging markets". CEO Paul Polman insisted "our expectation for the full year is unchanged", adding the company believed it would have underlying sales growth in the 3%-5% range" in 2018.
He also announced that Unilever had completed the sale of its margarines and butters division to US private equity giant KKR by its July 2 deadline, sa...
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