Unilever Reports First-Quarter Sales Decline

Unilever has announced a 3.3 percent decrease in sales for the first quarter, attributing the decline to unfavorable currency exchange rates. Despite this, the company reported underlying sales growth of 3.8 percent, indicating positive performance when currency impacts are excluded.

Power Brands Drive Growth

Strong Volume Performance

The company’s ‘power brands’ – those generating over 1 billion euros in annual turnover – were key to the positive results. These include well-known names like Dove, Vaseline, and Liquid I.V., demonstrating strong volume growth. Overall, power brands saw underlying sales increase by 5 percent, with a 4 percent rise in volume.

CEO Highlights Key Markets and Strategy

Fernando Fernandez, Unilever’s Chief Executive Officer, stated the company had a strong start to the year. He emphasized the volume-led growth driven by power brands and positive performance across all business groups. Fernandez also noted broad-based momentum in emerging markets, particularly in India, and a recovery in Latin America.

“We continue to move at speed to build a simpler, sharper company, with a structurally higher growth profile and a brand portfolio fit for the future,” Fernandez added.

Outlook and Strategic Changes

Unilever maintains its full-year 2026 outlook, projecting underlying sales growth at the lower end of its 4 to 6 percent range, with at least 2 percent underlying volume growth. The company anticipates a modest improvement in underlying operating margin for the full year compared to 2025’s 20 percent.

Recent Business Developments

Unilever has been actively reshaping its portfolio. Earlier this year, the company announced a merger of its U.S. foods business with McCormick. Last year, the ice cream business was spun off as a separate, publicly-listed entity, The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

This month, Unilever agreed to acquire wellness brand Grüns, known for its fruit, vegetable, and prebiotic fiber-filled gummy supplements, for approximately $1.2 billion. The company remains confident in its ability to meet its guidance despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, citing progress in brand elevation and operational execution.