Amid pandemic, consumer goods sales hold up at Unilever

FILE - In this Thursday, March 15, 2018 file photo, the logo for Unilever appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Consumer products giant Unilever, said Thursday July 23, 2020, that second-quarter sales were only slightly lower than the same period a year ago despite the lockdown measures triggered by the global fight against the coronavirus.(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) (Richard Drew, AP)

THE HAGUE ā€“ Consumer products giant Unilever, whose brands include Ben & Jerry's ice creams, Lipton tea and Dove soaps, said Thursday that second-quarter sales were only slightly lower than the same period a year ago ā€” beating expectations of a drop of around 4% ā€” despite the lockdown measures triggered by the global fight against the coronavirus.

CEO Alan Jope said the Anglo-Dutch company had ā€œunlocked new levels of agility in responding to unprecedented fluctuations in demand.ā€

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The company's shares jumped more than 8% on the news.

Unilever's results provide a snapshot of how consumer behavior has been altered by the global pandemic - shoppers bought more food and drink to consume at home rather than visiting restaurants and cleaned their homes and hands more while spending less on personal grooming.

ā€œLockdowns in our markets and reduced personal care occasions amidst restricted living, led to lower demand for skin care, deodorants and hair care, which each saw volume and price decline,ā€ the company said.

E-commerce grew 49% in the first half of the year as lockdowns and fear of the virus forced people to stay home and shop online.

Second quarter underlying sales growth edged down 0.3% while turnover fell 3.1% compared to the second quarter in 2019 to 13.3 billion euros ($15.4 billion).

The company noted that sales of food, ice cream and tea rose as people spent more time at home. The flip side was that ā€œconsumers had fewer personal care occasions from going to work or socializing, and we saw a decline in our personal care business, except for hygiene products.ā€

The importance of hygiene in fighting the coronavirus led to increased demand for hand and home sanitizing products.

ā€œConsumers eating and cleaning more at home, and focusing more on hand hygiene, led to underlying sales growth in North America of 9.5% in the second quarter, despite a negative impact of 3.7% from food solutions and Prestige channel closures,ā€ the company said.

Following a review launched in January, Unilever said it will retain its tea businesses in India and Indonesia and separate the company's remaining tea operations into a new business. The separation is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.


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