Unilever NV, the maker of consumer products such as Dove soap, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Lipton tea, on Thursday reported a fall in fourth-quarter net profit compared to a year ago, when it reaped gains from selling operations. Net profit dropped to ¤721 million (US$1.06 billion) from ¤2.03 billion, while sales rose 1.7 percent to ¤9.89 billion (US$14.6 billion) from ¤9.72 billion, the Associated Press reported. In the fourth quarter last year, Unilever booked a ¤1.2 billion gain on selling its frozen foods division in Europe. Without the impact of that disposal and the weakening dollar, sales would have risen 6 percent, split evenly between volume growth and price increases, it said. The company said it continued to see growth in the United States, despite fears of a slowdown. Chief Executive Patrick Cescau forecast company wide sales growth «at the upper end» of a 3-5 percent range in 2008. Shares fell 0.3 percent to ¤21.60 (US$31.81) in Amsterdam. Unilever, with dual headquarters in London and in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is the world's second largest maker of consumer products after Procter & Gamble Co. Unilever's other brands include Knorr soups, Hellmann's mayonnaise and the diet products range Slimfast, among other products. Full year net profit fell to ¤3.89 billion (US$5.73 billion) from ¤4.75 billion, while sales rose 1.5 percent to ¤40.2 billion. In Europe, Unilever's largest market, sales were up 3.4 percent to ¤3.74 billion. In the Americas, sales fell 3.3 percent to ¤3.33 billion (US$5.51 billion), though the company said that «underlying» sales, which ignores discontinued operations and currency exchange movements, were up. In August, the company announced plans to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide in the coming four years to reduce costs, around 11 percent of its 179,000 work force. In Asia and Africa, sales rose 5.7 percent to ¤2.82 billion (US$4.15 billion). «India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa and Turkey...all grew in double digits and (in) big categories such as laundry and personal wash,» Unilever said.
