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Unilever has reported an underlying sales growth (USG) of 5.4% year-on-year during the first half of FY21.
The growth was supported by a 1.3% rise in underlying price growth and a 4% jump in underlying volume growth, when compared to H1 FY20.
Despite the consumer goods company’s climbing USG, group turnover flatlined during the period, rising 0.3% year-on-year to €25.8bn (£22.1bn).
Moreover, underlying operating profit at Unilever fell 4.7% to €4.8bn (£4.1bn), down from H1 FY20’s €5.1bn (£4.4bn) profits.
Alan Jope, CEO at the group, said: “Unilever has delivered a strong first half, with underlying sales growth of 5.4% driven by our continued focus on operational excellence.
“We are making good progress against the strategic choices outlined earlier this year, including the development of our portfolio into high growth spaces. Our ecommerce business grew 50% and the channel now represents 11% of sales.”
The majority of Unilever’s turnover came from its beauty and personal care, and food and refreshment arms, which represented €10.4bn (£8.9bn) and €10.2bn (£8.75bn) respectively.
Jope added: “Competitive growth is our priority, and we are confident that we will deliver underlying sales growth in 2021 well within our multi-year framework of 3-5%, despite more challenging comparators in the second half.
“We are managing this dynamically and expect to maintain underlying operating margin for 2021 around flat.”
