Unilever reaches 50bn turnover
Unilever shares have jumped as the company’s annual turnover tops €50 billion.
Unilever shares have jumped as the company’s annual turnover tops €50 billion.
Unilever shares have jumped on the London Stock Exchange this morning (January 23rd), after the company announced that it has exceeded over €50 billion (£42 billion) in annual turnover for the very first time.
According to the Anglo-Dutch food producer, the emerging markets facilitated this boost, with pre-tax profits jumping by seven per cent to €6.7 billion in 2012 from the previous year, defying rising energy and food prices.
Unilever's fourth-quarter sales increased by 7.8 per cent, while for the whole 12-month period the firm saw its strongest sales growth in Asia and Africa, where there was a 10.6 per cent rise. In the US, sales climbed by 7.9 per cent.
Chief executive Paul Polman said: "Emerging markets again contributed double-digit growth helping us exceed €50 billion in turnover, an important milestone in our journey to double the size of Unilever from €40 to 80 billion."
At 10:55 GMT, Unilever shares jumped by three per cent to 2526.00p per unit.
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