Growth for Unilever in leading brands

INTERNATIONAL – Unilever has said that sustained brand growth helped improve results for the fourth quarter of 2002.

The company, which one of the world’s largest suppliers of consumer foods, homecare and personal care products, saw 14.9% operating margin, compared to 13.9% in 2001. “In 2003 we are planning for growth of leading brands of between 5 and 6%, when they will exceed 90% of our turnover,” said chairmen Mr Fitzgerald and Mr Burgmans in a statement.

Last year the group’s global ice cream business responded well in the third quarter to a difficult summer in Europe.