The CEO of Unilever (UL), the world’s second-largest consumer goods company, said November 29 that a slowdown in demand for consumer goods in emerging markets will likely affect the sales of the entire consumer staples industry. He has warned that Unilever, because of its dependence on such markets (60% of its sales are generated emerging markets), will be particularly hurt by the trend.
Unilever’s third quarter fiscal year 2013 (3QFY13) sales, reported October 24, were up by a weak 3.2%, which was the lowest growth recorded by the company in over four years. The company reported only 5.9% growth in revenues from emerging markets for the quarter, lower than the 10.3% growth rate recorded during the first half of the year.
The third quarter results have now been followed up by Polman’s gloomy outlook for the company. He has said the slowdown in demand from emerging markets will likely continue hurting Unilever for years.
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