ARE YOU CHEERED BY UNILEVER’S RETURN TO GROWTH?
GRAHAM JONES PANMURE GORDON
“Unilever certainly deserves credit for restor-ing volume growth more strongly than we had expected, with two per cent growth in the second quarter after a fall. While we are trimming our sterling profit forecasts by four to five per cent to reflect recent sterling strength, we are raising our price target to 1,580p.”
KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
“It would appear that the group’s newly acquired taste for bringing in fresh external management is proving rewarding and whilst Unilever still has a long way to go in acquiring the status which fellow consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser has achieved, today’s results mark a another step in the right direction.”
MARTIN DEBOO INVESTEC
“Unilever’s second quarter has beaten consensus in terms of the quantity and quality of top line growth and for us represents a strong quarter. Volume growth has returned to the business (notably in Europe, albeit at cost to margin) and striking progress has been made on working capital.”