Unilever Reports Double-Digit Sales Growth Amid Price Rises
ESM - European Supermarket Magazine
The industry magazine for C-suite executives and procurement managers working in the European grocery retail sector.
Unilever?beat its sales forecasts for the?first quarter?as another big rise in?prices?from the consumer goods firm triggered only a small dip in volumes. Unilever reported a 10.5% rise in underlying first-quarter sales to €14.8 billion, beating analysts' average forecast for a 7.2% increase, according to a company-provided consensus. That included a 10.7% increase in prices and a 0.2% dip in volumes.
Sign up here to receive ESM’s full?weekly Retail Digest newsletter — directly in your inbox.
Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest?supermarket?group,?reported?an expected 5% fall in annual profit as inflation hit both it and customers but forecast a better than expected performance this year. Sainsbury's, which has a 15% share of?Britain's grocery market, said underlying pretax profit was ￡690 million (€778.4 million) in the year to March 4, at the top end of guidance but down from the ￡730 million (€823.5 million) made in 2021-22. For the 2023-24 year it forecast profit between ￡640 million (€722 million) and ￡700 million (€789 million), ahead of analysts' average forecast of ￡631 million (€712 million)
Nestlé?has?reported?slightly better-than-expected first-quarter sales, as the world's biggest packaged food company increased prices to offset tepid sales volume. The Swiss company, which makes Maggi stock cubes, Kit Kat chocolate bars and Nescafé coffee, said sales rose 5.6% to CHF 23.5 billion (€23.96 billion) in the quarter ended March 31, beating average estimate of CHF 23.27 billion (€23.73 billion) in a company-provided analyst consensus. Nestlé increased its prices by 9.8% during the quarter but sales volumes – which the company calls real internal growth – edged down 0.5%.”
Carrefour, Europe's largest food retailer, said it was confident of more profit and cash flow growth this year despite high?inflation, after sales growth accelerated in the first quarter. Sales reached €22.071 billion, marking like-for-like growth of 12.3% and an acceleration from 10.9% sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2022. This was driven by a solid performance in?France, where Carrefour hypermarkets' low-cost offering attracted buyers grappling with the?cost of living.
Danone?has raised its 2023 sales growth outlook after it?reported?higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue in the first quarter, as it was able to raise prices in the face of high raw materials and energy costs. Danone, maker of Activia?yoghurt, Evian water and Aptamil infant milk said it expected like-for-like 2023 sales growth of between 4% and 6%, having previously forecast 3% to 5% growth. The?French?company, which expects a gradual slowdown in inflation this year as well as productivity gains, reiterated its forecast for a moderate improvement in recurring operating margin for the year.
Reader feedback:
We invite and encourage our LinkedIn newsletter readers to chime in with their comments and feedback, which we may feature in this section in future editions.
领英推荐
Feel free to comment below or write to us at?[email protected].
Most read by subscribers this week:
The latest issue of our magazine is out now
In the?March/April 2023 edition, we we feature our annual Europe's Fastest-Growing Categories report, in association with Circana; we meet Guillaume Sénéclauze, chief executive of Monoprix; we catch up with Coop Denmark CEO Kr?n ?stergaard Nielsen; and a lot more besides.
Enjoyed this newsletter?
Sign up for our free weekly newsletter,?Retail Digest.
Subscribe to?ESM: European Supermarket Magazine, and?enjoy unlimited digital access for 30 days.