May 2017 Financial News

Unilever 1Q profits fall by 60%

May 30, 2017

Unilever Caribbean Ltd yesterday reported that its profit after tax for the first quarter of 2017 declined by 60 per cent to $3.8 million from $9.6 million in the comparable period last year.

The global consumer goods company said the reasons for the sharp decline in its profitability include issues related to start up costs in its capital expenditure programme, higher inflation as a result of rising costs and the continued effects of the foreign exchange shortage.

Unilever Caribbean also experienced a decline in its sales by 14.5 per cent, as its turnover in the first quarter of 2017, amounted to $115 million, down from $134.6 million in 2016.

The company said it “faced a very challenging start to the year, with economic headwinds continuing to impede growth in the Trinidad and Tobago market and impacting negatively the purchasing power of consumers.”

Unilever said in addition to the slowdown in the local market, “the growth seen in some of the key regional markets in the prior year has also softened.”

The company’s unaudited financial statements for the period were signed by its chairman Pablo Garrido.

Source:
Trinidad Guardian
Tuesday May 30, 2017

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2017-05-29/unilever-1q-profits-fall-60