Unilever's First Quarter Results

The multinational company's result has been impacted by the turbulent macroeconomic conditions

For the first quarter, Unilever PLC disclosed an increase in the sales of the primary produces as it sold its products at slightly prices but the topline results were snowed under the tough currency volatility.

The London based fast moving consumer goods company who has streamline of brands like Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap has recently presented its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31. The company disclosed a decline in revenue of $14.3 billion (U.S. equivalent of 12.5 billion euros). In comparison with last year’s same period results, the company’s revenue fell down by 2.3% from an earlier $14.46 billion (U.S. equivalent of 12.8 billion euros).

After exclusion of the impact of foreign-exchange, the underlying sales escalated by 4.7% being in line with the analyst estimates.

In the emerging markets, during the first quarter, the underlying sales elevated by 8.3% up from the 5.4% growth which the company had reported in the prior earlier.

The $138 billion organization has been actively working to lessen the hard impact of the unstable macroeconomic conditions by elevating the product prices and launching the products’ premium versions. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company also took up a “zero based budgeting” which is a type of budgeting where the expenses are justified for each new period.

Unilever Chief Executive Paul Polman said on Thursday, “With markets remaining volatile, we continue to focus on driving agility and resilience in our business.”

The results were out after the rival Nestle SA, for the three months period, unveiled a rise of around 3.9% in the organic sales and established its full year growth in line with 2015.

At its personal-care arm, the company put forward healthy results showing 5.8% rise in the underlying sales. This business has been essential for the company as it let the company transition from exclusively being a food-focused company to the one that progressively sells face cream and body wash.

Moreover, the multinational organization garnered 3.8% and 7% underlying growth in its refreshment business –including tea and ice cream –and home-care division.

The company’s foods business, however, was comparatively slow. It only grew by 1.9% as the consumer goods manufacturer confirmed that the spreads business sales had been declining in spite of conducting new campaign in the U.K. which sheds the light on the company’s Flora margarine brand’s health credentials.

The company also announced an increase of 6% in the quarterly dividend to $0.36 (U.S. equivalent of 0.32 euros) per share.

Lastly, at the market which closed on Wednesday, Unilever stock stood at a price of $46.24. The 52 week range of the share is $39 to $47.