UNILEVER shares rose yesterday to their highest level in a year after the consumer goods giant delivered a second successive quarter of sales growth.
Patrick Cescau, the chief executive, was “encouraged” by the performance and said that Unilever’s shares, which had been falling, were stabilising.
But he said that trading in Europe remained challenging, and that inflationary pressures threatened Unilever’s cost base. M Cescau said: “However, performance in developing and emerging markets was better, and here the outlook is much stronger.”
Unilever’s turnover in the three months to March 31 rose 2.3 per cent to €9.3 billion (£6.3 billion) compared with the first quarter last year. Pre-tax profits increased 9 per cent to €1.3 billion.
Unilever’s shares traded as high as 542p — a level