Unilever recorded lower sales in the first quarter of 2021, but growth was on an underlying basis. This was demonstrated by an analyst consensus in which 17 analysts participated and which Unilever himself published.
The analysts expect sales of 12.1 billion euros in the first quarter compared to 12.4 billion euros in 2020.
However, analysts and the market attach particular importance to the development of Unilever’s underlying turnover. In the first quarter, underlying sales increased by 3.9 percent, with 0.9 percentage points of higher prices and 2.9 percentage points of volumes, according to analysts. A year earlier, underlying revenue growth was flat. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Unilever recorded underlying growth of 3.5 percent.
In the annual figures in February, ING pointed out, among other things, the coronavirus costs and higher prices for raw materials, a point that Unilever, looking ahead, also said it had in mind. UBS experienced a setback in margins in the second half of 2020, and investors will look in the first quarter results for signs of whether or not this trend has continued.
